Driver who caused death of pensioner in Monmouth car park crash avoids jail

A driver killed a pensioner in a supermarket car park after failing to see her because of her steamed-up windows, a court heard.

May Mustey, 45, hit Gwendoline Owen, 75, in the Waitrose car park in Monmouth, South Wales, on the afternoon of December 31 2022.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Mustey's car windows were steamed up but due to "impatience" drove with her head stuck out of the driver side window - with eyewitnesses watching her erratic driving.

As she left the car park she struck Mrs Owen with her Toyota Yaris, who suffered fatal head injuries and died hours later in hospital.

John Ryan, prosecuting, told the court the collision took place at around 4.15pm on New Year's Eve as it was getting dark.

"She started the vehicle and waited for a little bit for the heaters and air vents to clear the glass and said that she began to drive when she could see only through the lower half of the windscreen," Mr Ryan said.

"She also said that having completed a right-hand turn she realised that she had no view through the glass, so she stopped her vehicle, lowered the driver's side window and stretched her head outside of the vehicle to give some forward view as she restarted her journey through the car park and prepared to complete a second right-hand turn which is where the fatal collision took place.

"She confirmed she did not lower the passenger side window so effectively had no left-hand view.

"She said she then heard a thump or bump noise from the front of her car and saw the top half of a figure colliding with the front of her car and falling away.

"She said she opened the driver's door to find the female lying on the ground unconscious.

"In her defence statement Mrs Mustey stated that the windows were not demisted, and she could only see out of the bottom of the windscreen.

"She accepted that she knew there would have been pedestrians in the car park while driving in that condition.

"The prosecution's case is this, that whilst at that time, it was dark or is dusk, the car park was well lit.

"Mrs Mustey chose to drive the vehicle knowing she had limited visibility by giving insufficient time for her windows to be demisted.

"She also had her windscreen wipers set as an incorrect setting to effectively clear the rain from her windscreen.

"Mrs Mustey cut the corner near the supermarket entrance and drove harshly over an empty disabled parking space - an indicator of how little she could see."

One witness told police: "It appeared to me she was not looking round or paying attention to her surroundings whatsoever.

"The driver was driving diagonal on a straight line of road and it appeared that the driver did not have a clue what she was doing."

The court heard Mrs Owen's husband was in poor health and living in a care home and there were no other surviving relatives.

At a previous hearing Mustey, of Maypole, Monmouth, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Owen Williams, defending, said Mustey had written a "heartfelt and genuine letter of apology" to the family of Mrs Owen.

"There is a pre-sentence report and a number of character references that provides full details of Mrs Mustey's life history and her personal circumstances, her present personal circumstances," he said.

"There are a number of references from friends and colleagues who highlight the very positive features of their personality - honest, generous and a caring person, friend and colleague and also a devoted and loving mother and wife."

The court heard Mustey had since lost her job as a teaching assistant in a school.

Judge Paul Hobson imposed a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and banned her from driving for five years.

He also ordered Mustey to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and pay prosecution costs of £1,200.

"It was your impatience that day that led to her death," he said.

"Having made the decision to start to drive you should have stopped when it became obvious to you that the windows were not clearing as quickly as you had hoped.

"Instead, you rolled down the window and stuck your head out of the car to try and compensate.

"Common sense should have told you not even to start or certainly not to continue to drive in a car park where there were pedestrians present.

"The danger of it should have been obvious to you but you ignored that danger. It was impatience that got the better of your decision making."

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