Careless driving killed Presteigne pensioner (From Hereford Times)

Careless driving killed Presteigne pensioner

2:22pm Friday 10th July 2009 in

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A FOOTBALLER has been convicted of causing the death of a Presteigne pensioner by careless driving.

Aaron Bowden, aged 21, was returning from training at Woofferton FC when his Peugeot 306 collided with a Ford Fiesta driven by Beatrice Maud Davies, 69, on the B4529 last July.

He denied causing death by dangerous driving and was instead found guilty of the lesser charge at Hereford Crown Court on Tuesday, receiving six penalty points, a £500 fine and £500 costs.

During a seven-day trial, Bowden, of Mill Bungalow, Cholstrey, denied prosecution counsel Martin Butterworth’s claims that he was in the wrong lane and driving inappropriately in wet conditions.

Asked if he had approached a bend – where expert prosecution witnesses said the Peugeot mounted the verge before coming back into the road and hitting the Fiesta – too fast, Mr Bowden replied: “No, not at all.”

He said he negotiated the corner steadily because he knew the road was prone to flooding and said his car had aquaplaned.

His Honour Judge Hooper urged the jury to set aside emotion during their deliberations.

They had heard evidence from witnesses including Rachel Davies, then 17, who was travelling with Mrs Davies, her grandmother, to collect her boyfriend from Leominster train station.

She said Mrs Davies took the car because Miss Davies was still learning and didn’t want to drive in the dark.

Like Bowden, she suffered serious injury in the crash, which she said had affected her memory and led her to include estimates of the speed of the Peugeot in her evidence at a later stage.

Defending, Andrew Davidson said the issue of speed and what had happened before the collision was key to the case.

Bowden was otherwise a man of good character facing a situation with “enormous”

consequences.