Chester Magistrates Court fines Brymbo woman over A534 crash

Tracy Jones, 59, of Mount Isa Drive in Brymbo, crashed into an oncoming Tesco delivery van on the A534 Broxton road near Clutton on July 11 last year. She pleaded guilty to one charge of driving without due care or attention at Chester Magistrates Court on Tuesday, January 28. Prosecutor Valeriya Tonkinson explained that on the date in question, a Tesco delivery van was being driven along the road in what was described as 'mild' driving conditions.

However, the defendant was coming in the opposite direction in her Mercedes C Class car and drifted into the van's lane and collided with it head-on, writing the Tesco vehicle off. The driver was left with cuts, bruises and swelling all over their body while Jones suffered injuries. Mrs Tonkinson added that when police arrived, the defendant could not give any reason for why she had drifted into the van's path.

Appearing unpresented, Jones handed a prepared 'statement of mitigation' which was read to the court by the sitting legal advisor. She said: "I fully accept responsibility for the incident and express my deepest apologies to those injured." She said that she suffered an unexplained blackout which 'was a shock as she had no previous health conditions'.

The court heard that Jones has since had medical tests which have not shown any issues and that her doctor told her the blackout was a 'one-off'. Jones added that as her husband has now retired from work, he drives her long distances and they took the decision to not replace her car. Magistrates accepted her version of events and chose to fine her GBP80 and ordered her to pay GBP85 in costs and a GBP32 victim surcharge.

She was also given six penalty points for her licence.