Drink-driver Fionna Myhill jailed for three years for causing fatal Rougham crash which killed Great Massingham mother Karen Eateen
A drink-driver who killed a mother in a village crash has been jailed for three years. Police were called to the B1145 Lynn Road in Rougham on May 19 last year, after a Nissan X-Trail collided with a Ford Fiesta at around 3.10pm. The next day, 52-year-old mother Karen Eateen, who was driving the Ford on her way to her grandson's birthday party, died in hospital as a result of internal bleeding.
At Norwich Crown Court this afternoon, 52-year-old Fionna Myhill was sentenced to 36 months in prison and was banned from driving for six years and seven months.
The court heard how Myhill had been driving to work that day, when she "over-corrected" a bend in the road, struck a verge and swerved into the path of Ms Eateen. Each car rotated anti-clockwise, and both drivers were taken to hospital, with the defendant only suffering minor injuries.
Tests showed she had 117mcg of alcohol in her system per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mcg.
During police interview, Myhill said it had been a "normal day", she had completed housework, looked after the dogs and watched TV. However, when asked about alcohol, she said she had consumed Hardy's Chardonnay the previous evening, and her last glass she took to bed with her between 10pm and 11pm.
During the hearing, it was said that there was no suggestion of distractions at the time of the crash, neither on the road nor inside the car. There was also no evidence that Myhill - who had a previous drink-drive offence from 2014, which saw her disqualified for 20 months - had hit her brakes prior to the crash.
A toxicology report showed that the defendant was taking a number of medications, including amitriptyline, an antidepressant which should not be combined with alcohol. In mitigation, barrister Emma Reed, representing Myhill, claimed that she was not told by her doctor that she shouldn't drink on the medication, and that during the crash, the defendant had a "momentary lapse of judgement". She added that the defendant is remorseful.
"Ms Eateen's family are the first thing she thinks about in the morning, and the last thing at night," Ms Reed said. "She wishes it was her that died."
Myhill's "debilitating" health conditions - including breast cancer for which she is now in remission - were aired to the court. It was said she has two broken vertebrae, Guillain-Barre syndrome, chronic neuropathic pain, depression, anxiety and alcohol dependence - yet during her police interview, she told officers that she "likes a glass of wine" but isn't dependent on it.
A handful of Ms Eateen's family members' statements were read out to the court, in which she was described as "the heart of the family".
Her sister, Tracey Willis, said: "She was an honest, caring person.
"If you needed her, she was there, no questions asked.
"She was the perfect balance of a gentle shoulder to cry on and a fierce protector who would go to battle for those she loved."