A JURY in the trial of a woman who denies causing serious injury to a pedestrian by dangerous driving down a steep hill in Whitehaven has retired to consider its verdict.
Carlisle Crown Court has heard how Ian Lithgow was struck by a blue Renault Clio and thrown “into the air” as he walked up Rosemary Lane towards a footpath close to the town centre on the afternoon of August 26 in 2017.
Shocking CCTV footage played in court captured a collision which left Mr Lithgow, aged 56 at the time, with fractures to both legs. He underwent surgery during a hospital stay lasting almost a fortnight.
Clio driver Karen Matthews is on trial and denies causing serious injury by dangerous driving. In evidence 61-year-old Matthews, of Harbour View, Whitehaven, insisted she pressed the brake as she drove down the hill towards Mr Lithgow but told how “nothing happened”. A motorist travelling behind her saw no brake lights nor speed loss.
Police found no faults with the Clio nor any failure which could have contributed to, or caused, the crash. An investigator concluded a likely cause was “inadvertent misapplication of the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal”.
The jury has been told they can consider an alternative charge alleging careless driving by Matthews, who has no convictions or cautions to her name.
During his summing-up today (WED), Judge Peter Davies told jurors before they retired to start their deliberations: “The issue here is whether the driving was dangerous or careless.”
