Teenager jailed after ploughing into grandmother at 70mph while texting friend

 

Last updated at 18:11pm on 20th July 2007 Comments

Rachel Begg was texting a male friend on the motorway when she crashed

 

Beloved grandmother Maureen Waites, who died instantly

 

 

A teenager who texted a friend while driving at up to 70mph moments before she ploughed into and killed a grandmother was sentenced to four years' detention in a Young Offenders' Institution today.

Rachel Begg, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, used her phone nine times in a 15-minute journey before she smashed into 64-year-old Maureen Waites's hatchback.

Mrs Waites was on her way to pick up her sister from Newcastle Airport in November last year when she was killed.

Newcastle Crown Court heard her Citroen was hit from behind by Begg's VW Polo, causing it to spin one way then the other as the cars came together twice.

The Citroen smashed into a crash barrier and the mother-of-two was killed instantly, suffering severe internal injuries.

Begg had been visiting the home of a male friend in Newcastle's West End and was driving home to Whinbank, Ponteland, near the airport, when she crashed on the A696 dual-carriageway at about 11.20pm on a rainy night.

The court heard she originally denied using the phone to police.

She was taken to hospital with neck injuries and later made a statement about what happened, but made no mention of her phone.

But checks by police found she had made and received calls, as well as sending and reading text messages as she drove.

Robert Woodcock, prosecuting, said: "Analysis showed that the calls were simple and undeniable.

"As she was travelling north, and at about 65-70mph according to her, she was writing and sending text messages.

"Her eyes cannot have been on the road ahead, for if they had been, she would have seen Mrs Waites.

"Her eyes must have been cast down, and having sent the last message, she realised she was horrifically close to Mrs Waites, and probably panicked."

She could not avoid the collision, possibly because of her inexperience, the court heard.

She had been driving for 18 months, and had no previous convictions or motoring offences.

Judge John Milford sentenced her to four years' detention, banned her from driving for five years and ordered she must take an extended re-test.

He said: "The cause of this accident was that you had failed to see her until it was too late, for the simple reason you had been sending a text message to your male friend.

"To send a text message is even more perilous when the message is at night in a darkened car."

Mrs Waites, who had been with her 74-year-old husband George for almost 50 years, was the hub of her family. The judge said she could have expected a long and productive retirement.

In a statement to the court, her daughter Helen Adams said Mrs Waites, from Wingate, Co Durham, often gave her family lifts to and from the airport as she loved to see their reaction at the baggage carousel, and could not wait to hear their holiday stories.

Robert Adams, defending, said she was greatly remorseful for the crash, and referred the judge to submissions by her GP and psychiatric nurse which said she had suffered post traumatic stress disorder and nightmares.

He said: "This was a terrible tragedy. Rachel Begg knows and recognises it was entirely her fault."

Outside court, Mrs Adams, a 38-year-old solicitor, said: "As a family we are saddened that a 19-year-old girl has been given a term of imprisonment, however she has shown no remorse or any form of sympathy for our loss.

"The sentence does not reflect the fact that she has taken our mother's life, which was wholly avoidable.

"We sincerely hope that lessons will be learnt from this sentence today.

"People must stop using mobile phones while driving. The consequences can be fatal and it causes nothing other than heartbreak."

Sergeant Ian Dey said: "Research has proven that using a mobile telephone while driving is just as bad as someone drinking and driving.

"Using your mobile while driving is inexcusable and those who do so are simply not appreciating the consequences of their actions."

Just prison :(

 

I wanted the death penalty.