Driver has admitted dangerous driving in Durham A167 fatal crash
Liam Stephen Bowes, 37, previously admitted causing the death of Durham University student Abigail Eggleston by dangerous driving. The 22-year-old law student died in hospital from injuries suffered when she was struck by a Volkswagen Golf car driven by Bowes as she was crossing the A167 in Nevilles Cross, Durham, in the early hours of Sunday October 26. 
Bowes failed to stop at the scene and was arrested the following day after the abandoned Golf was found partly burned out, in Town Kelloe. Other charges of perverting the course of justice, failing to stop after an accident and driving without insurance were also admitted by the defendant at a Durham Crown Court plea hearing in late November. Although the guilty pleas mean the case will not go to a jury trial, a Newton hearing (trial of issue) before a judge may be required as the prosecution in the case does not accept the defendant's basis of pleas.
The issues to be settled relate to the defendant's level of intoxication and the speed he was travelling at the point of collision. 
This includes CCTV footage from a workingmen's club where the defendant could be seen drinking at a function the previous evening and telegraphic details recovered despite the damage caused to the car, to help assess the driving speed immediately prior to the collision. Chris Morrison, for the defendant, told a "mention" hearing in the case at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday (February 17) that he had not had the opportunity to speak to Bowes about the new evidence. Judge Francis Laird KC said the defence response to the new evidence must be submitted to the court by 4pm on February 25. Depending on the defence submissions, either a Newton hearing will be staged or the case will go straight to sentence at the court, on Monday March 2. The defendant, of Eastern Avenue, Langley Park, was remanded to remain in custody in the meantime.References