Estate agent jailed for causing death of “bright and beautiful” young woman in Filey accident
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Elizabeth Tiffin, 31, pulled out of a junction on the A1039 near Filey, straight into the path of Georgia Porter’s Sym Chacha moped, York Crown Court heard.
Georgia, who was 21 years old, was knocked off her motorbike and struck the bonnet and windscreen of Tiffin’s WV Beetle, before landing on the edge of a kerb on the central reservation.
She was airlifted to hospital and fought for her life for several weeks during intensive care at Hull Royal Infirmary and York District Hospital.
Elizabeth Tiffin.
Tiffin was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving but offered a plea to an alternative count of causing death by careless driving.
The prosecution ultimately accepted this plea.
Prosecutor Dan Cordey said that Tiffin was driving a blue Volkswagen which stopped at the King Hill junction of the A1039 and A165 Filey-to-Scarborough road near Muston at about 4.40pm on August 29.
Georgia Porter.
There were two cars in front of her at the junction which pulled out safely into the road.
Tiffin followed them and turned right but didn’t see Georgia’s moped approaching as she pulled out.
“(Tiffin) indicated to turn right across oncoming traffic and pulled into the dedicated lane for doing so,” said Mr Cordey.
“Georgia Porter was travelling along the A165 towards Scarborough, having left home and intending to go to work in Filey.
“She was riding perfectly safely, her front lights were on and the motorbike was illuminated.”
Georgia, who was wearing a high-viz jacket and helmet, was riding within the 40mph speed limit in strong winds when Tiffin’s Volkswagen struck the side of her moped.
She struck the windscreen and went over the bonnet.
A female witness who was in the car behind the moped said Georgia was “clearly visible and there to be seen”.
Another motorist, who was in front of Tiffin’s car at the junction, said that when he stopped at the junction, he had a good view of oncoming traffic and saw the moped coming towards him which he said was “bang in the middle of the Scarborough-bound lane, travelling at a slow, steady speed” about 100 yards from the junction.
A road-accident investigator said the moped would have been “within (Tiffin’s) line of view” for about 100 metres before she pulled out of the right-hand filter lane and estimated that the VW must have been about 30 metres from the motorcycle when it pulled out onto the road, giving Georgia little or no time to avoid a collision.
Tiffin had “failed to keep a proper look-out when turning right”.
Tiffin was interviewed at Scarborough Police Station and said she had just left work and was on her way to Hull at the time of the fatal crash.
She said she followed the two cars in front of her out of the junction and “didn’t see the lady on the motorbike until she was literally in front of me”.
Tiffin, lately of Derwent Street, Cockermouth, appeared for sentence today (Apr 23) when the court was told that since the accident, she had accrued six points on her licence for two speeding offences in January and June 2022.
The prosecution read out a victim-impact statement from Georgia’s “heartbroken” mother, Cheryl Porter, on behalf of the family including her father Andrew and two brothers.
Mrs Porter described Georgia – whom she called ‘Lou’ as her middle was Louise – as “my perfect baby girl”.
She said Georgia was very caring and protective of her younger brother who had cerebral palsy and used to take him to the cinema in Bridlington.
She said family members were “inconsolable and finding it extremely difficult to cope” following Georgia’s death.
Her daughter loved Manga art, reading fantasy books and “always had a Kindle on the go”.
She described Georgia as a “free spirit” who was “intelligent, vibrant, unique”.
“She was fiercely loyal to those she loved,” added Mrs Porter.
“Her zest for life and enthusiasm were infectious.”
After achieving good results at school, Georgia went on to study nursing at York University to Master’s degree level in 2020, when she passed the test to get her scooter licence.
She moved back in with her parents later that year “as the course wasn’t working for her” and found a job at the Blue Dolphin Holiday Park in Filey.
Mrs Porter said her daughter was a careful rider who always called her when she was “out and about on her motorbike”.
Mrs Porter, a committed Christian and former carer, said it meant a lot to her that her beloved daughter was also steeped in the Christian faith.
She now worked for the road-safety charity Brake which had helped with her emotional turmoil, but it “it feels like time is on hold”.
Defence barrister Nick Peacock said that Georgia’s family’s “devastation” was “something that weighs very heavily on Ms Tiffin” who now suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and had lost her employment at the estate agents because her mental-health issues meant she was unable to keep up with the demands of the job.
She now lived off benefits.
Judge Simon Hickey said Tiffin’s “unsafe manoeuvre” across the junction was “more than just a momentary lapse of concentration” and gave Georgia “no chance” of avoiding a collision.
He said although Tiffin had been on a “downward spiral” since the accident and being dismissed from her job in May 2023, it had to be an immediate jail sentence because of the two speeding offences since the crash.
Tiffin was jailed for nine months and given a two-year driving ban.
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