Cheltenham minicab driver Lance Hepworth admits causing death of teenager Katie Clutterbuck by driving without due care and attentionA minicab driver was warned by his passengers to look out just moments before he ploughed into a teenager and killed her.
Lance Hepworth admitted causing the death of Katie Clutterbuck by driving without due care and attention when she left Kukui nightclub in Cheltenham and crossed Bath Road on September 15, last year.
Gloucester Crown Court heard Hepworth, a former soldier and HGV driver, simply did not see the 19-year-old as she crossed the road.
Hepworth, 68, had denied the offence but changed his plea as the trial was due to start on Monday morning.
Many of Katie’s family burst into tears as the court heard he would be admitting the offence.
Prosecutor Virginia Cornwall told the court Katie from Longlevens had been drinking that night and was on her mobile phone when she crossed the road without looking.
But she said Hepworth of Penrith Close in Cheltenham, who was driving at around 27mph, had between seven and nine seconds to see before he hit her in his Skoda Superb private hire car that evening.
She said two of the three male passengers had spotted Katie crossing outside the Moon Under Water pub in the spa town and even warned him.
She said: “He would have a view down the road just before the point of impact.
“Two of the passengers recall her being in the middle road. One of them said ‘watch her’ just before the impact.
“He simply did not see her.
“The expert evidence suggests that he would have had a good visibility for anything between seven and nine seconds, which would have given him ample opportunity to stop.”
Katie, who worked at Endsleigh Insurance in Shurdington, was taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where she later died.
Talking of Katie’s family, Ms Cornwall added: “They have been very anxious to find out what happened and what his explanation is and the wait has taken its toll.”
Defending Richard Clews said the late plea came as the defence was waiting on expert evidence.
He said: “This has been weighing heavily on his mind for the entire time. He is deeply sorry for what has happened.
“It has affected his health, if it is any comfort to her family to know how he feels.”
Hepworth will be back before the court on September 4 to be sentenced.
Huge numbers of flowers were left outside the pub in the spa town following Katie’s death.
In a statement, her family said: “Our beautiful Katie has been taken from us too soon and words cannot express how much it hurts and words cannot express how much it hurts to breathe. It feels like a part of us has died.
“Our world has been shattered and no words could ever begin to describe the pain, sorrow and grief we are suffering.
“Katie is our little angel and she will never be replaced. Katie was beautiful, happy and playful girl who had a loving heart.
“Katie touched people's lives in ways that no other could. Her eyes were bluer than any ocean and her smile shone brighter than any star.
“Katie was our world and our little princess, she always said 'happy girls are the prettiest girls', a happy, pretty girl she certainly was.”
Read more:
http://www.gloucestershireecho.co.uk/Ch ... z3AA1wHLiw
Login
Register
FAQ
