June Mills previously pleaded guilty to causing Brenda Joyce’s death (Image: PA)
A 96-year-old pensioner has been dealt a suspended prison sentence after causing death by dangerous driving.
June Mills, from Ainsdale on Merseyside, was given an 18-month suspended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday.
Mills previously admitted causing the death of 76-year-old Brenda Joyce after her car mounted the pavement and struck two people last August in Formby, Merseyside. The other woman, 80-year-old Jennifer Ensor, sustained only slight injuries.
The court heard last month that Mills mounted the kerb after applying too much acceleration while driving her Vauxhall Corsa, and that she accepted her driving was “far below standard”.
Sentencing her today, Judge Simon Medland KC said: “On any view and from every angle this case is an utter tragedy. Mrs Joyce died, Mrs Ensor was injured, you have lost your good character and are in the dock of Liverpool Crown Court.”
Mills was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday. (Image: Getty)
Robert Dudley, prosecuting, told the court Mrs Joyce and Mrs Ensor had been walking along the pavement after leaving the bridge club, which they attended with Mills, when the collision occurred.
Mills told police in a prepared statement her accelerator pedal felt as if it had “dropped to the floor” as she manoeuvred round a parked car and she had “shot forward”.
“It all happened very quickly and there were people in front of me but I could not avoid hitting them because the car was going so fast I had no control over it,” she said.
Mrs Joyce’s husband did not support the prosecution, the court heard.
In a statement which was read to the court, Mrs Ensor said she sustained minor physical injuries, including tendon damage which stopped her from playing a full round of golf, and had a “sense of guilt” at having survived.
Tom Gent, defending, said: “This is plainly a dreadfully sad case. Mrs Mills, the defendant, is extremely sorry for what happened. The consequences will haunt her forever. She feels great shame and guilt.”
He pointed out that the former careers advisor, who surrendered her driving licence following the crash, had previously been involved in voluntary work helping the victims of crime and young offenders.
“Recently she has housed, and continues to house, Ukrainian refugees,” Mr Gent added.
He said Mills now accepted she must have mistakenly applied too much acceleration, which resulted in the car lurching forward and mounting the kerb.
Judge Medland said, with credit for a guilty plea made at an earlier hearing, the starting point for her sentence would be 18 months behind bars.
However, he noted that, “Bearing in mind the imposition guidelines, the pre-sentence reports, the abundance of references and, if I might add, plain common sense, it would not profit anybody to make that an immediate sentence, nor would that be a just outcome.”
He suspended the sentence for 18 months. Mills was also ordered to pay a £1,500 fine and £500 prosecution costs and was disqualified from driving for five years.