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02/02/2009
Text Death-Crash Driver Jailed
A 21-year-old motorist, who sent and received more than 20 text messages, before she crashed into another car killing the driver, has been jailed for 21 months.
Philippa Curtis from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk was today found guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of Victoria McBryde, 24, of Horton, Hampshire, at Oxford Crown Court.
Miss McBryde had been dealing with a burst tyre, when Curtis hit the back of the stationary car at 70mph on the A40 near Wheatley in Oxfordshire.
Phone records found the 21-year-old had sent and received the messages before the incident in November 2007.
During the trial, the court heard the defendant - a waitress - had been "hyper" as she set off on her two-hour car journey to visit her boyfriend.
Curtis, who suffered only an arm injury in the crash, collided with Miss McBryde who was sitting in her car waiting for assistance for a damaged tyre.
She was pronounced dead from a brain injury after her car was forced off the road and on to a piece of concrete.
She admitted sending text messages while driving, but denied using her mobile phone at the time of the collision.
"I can't really describe in words how bad I actually feel," Curtis told the court.
"I just feel awful that I was involved and I can't really imagine how the family must feel."
Judge Julian Hall, who jailed Curtis for 21 months and imposed a three-year driving ban, said it had been "folly and madness" to use a phone while driving, adding it had been "disastrous" for her, Miss McBryde and her family.
(JM/BMCC)
Philippa Curtis from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk was today found guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of Victoria McBryde, 24, of Horton, Hampshire, at Oxford Crown Court.
Miss McBryde had been dealing with a burst tyre, when Curtis hit the back of the stationary car at 70mph on the A40 near Wheatley in Oxfordshire.
Phone records found the 21-year-old had sent and received the messages before the incident in November 2007.
During the trial, the court heard the defendant - a waitress - had been "hyper" as she set off on her two-hour car journey to visit her boyfriend.
Curtis, who suffered only an arm injury in the crash, collided with Miss McBryde who was sitting in her car waiting for assistance for a damaged tyre.
She was pronounced dead from a brain injury after her car was forced off the road and on to a piece of concrete.
She admitted sending text messages while driving, but denied using her mobile phone at the time of the collision.
"I can't really describe in words how bad I actually feel," Curtis told the court.
"I just feel awful that I was involved and I can't really imagine how the family must feel."
Judge Julian Hall, who jailed Curtis for 21 months and imposed a three-year driving ban, said it had been "folly and madness" to use a phone while driving, adding it had been "disastrous" for her, Miss McBryde and her family.
(JM/BMCC)
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