A WOMAN has admitted her dangerous driving caused the death of a young Penrith man who lost his life following a crash on the A66.
Jordan Wilson, who was aged 20, died on June 1 last year, two days after a Suzuki Swift in which he was a front seat passenger was in collision with a flatbed HGV close to Threlkeld, between Penrith and Keswick, at around 6am on May 30.
At Carlisle Crown Court today (FRI), 21-year-old Hannah Rose Bowman pleaded guilty to causing Mr Wilson’s death by dangerous driving. She was behind the wheel of the Suzuki at the time of the crash.
The court heard another motorist had seen her vehicle “weaving in the road” minutes before the collision. Prosecutor Francis McEntee said Bowman had “inadequate sleep” before embarking on the fatal journey, and had been warned by a member of Mr Wilson’s family before setting out that it was “not safe” for her to drive.
Bowman’s lawyer, David Wales, said she believed she had been capable of driving. But he told the court: “She recognises that, objectively, her undertaking that journey at that time was dangerous.”
Judge James Adkin adjourned the case for the preparation of impact statements by the family of Mr Wilson, who was described in a statement released by police after his death as a “much loved and talented young man”. A pre-sentence report will be prepared on Bowman, of Vicarage Terrace, Nenthead, near Alston, who was given an interim driving ban.
She was bailed and is due to be sentenced at the crown court on July 19. Judge Adkin said of the likely punishment: “It is a custody case, and a custody case of some length.”