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Fatal crash driver, 20, walks free from court

A young woman who caused the death of a much-loved grandfather by driving without due care and attention left court in tears after being spared immediate detention.

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Emily Doyle-Gibbons, inset, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court for sentencing

A lack of experience behind the wheel might have led Emily Doyle-Gibbons – 19 at the time and now 20 – to lose control of her Ford Fiesta, cross the carriageway and plough head on into an oncoming Vauxhall Corsa, killing its driver Malcolm Aplin, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Both vehicles were travelling at between 45mph and 55mph – within the 60mph limit – when tragedy struck on a curve at Port Lane between Codsall and Brewood around 4.15pm on June 25 last year.

Mr Aplin, a 59-year-old care home owner from Tettenhall with five children and five grandchildren, suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries and died at the scene.

Doyle-Gibbons, who passed her test in January 2016, was found guilty by a 10-2 majority following a trial last month, of causing death by careless driving.

She spent 15 days in hospital after fracturing her foot, pelvis and wrist.

Mr Paul Spratt, prosecuting, told the court: “We will never know exactly what happened in the moments before the collision but you may come to the conclusion that the speed at which she was travelling, coupled with her relative inexperience made her incapable of reacting how a more experienced driver might have done.”

Mr Oliver Woolhouse, defending, suggested that a ‘conflagration of small mistakes’ caused her ‘inability or failure’ to correct the steering before it was too late after going over a drain.

Judge James Burbidge QC told the defendant: “It is likely you were driving too fast for your own driving ability and a moment of your carelessness changed the lives of many people and ended that of Malcolm Aplin, a man so central to so many people’s lives.

“I am satisfied that you did feel some sort of depression and a defective shock absorber caused some limited over steer. Whether this was due to your driving inexperience is a matter for conjecture but the harm you have caused is immense.”

The judge dismissed any suggestion the defendant had not taken the loss to others seriously. He explained: “You presented as stoical during the trial. Some might see that as uncaring but I do not. You well know the devastation you have caused and feel that keenly.”

Doyle-Gibbons from Warren Drive, Dudley, who was late for an appointment when the collision occurred, was given six months detention suspended for two years, ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work for the community and banned from driving for five years.

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