Young woman jailed for causing death by dangerous driving on M32

25-year-old Charley Little was drunk and on the phone at the time of the crash

Little initially tried to claim she wasn't driving at the time of the crash
Author: James DiamondPublished 8th Sep 2022

A young woman who killed her passenger in a crash while driving drunk on the M32, has been jailed for six years.

Charley Little, who is 25, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving after the incident in the early hours of August 30 last year.

The Vauxhall Astra she was driving left the carriageway at 83 miles an hour, launched from an embankment and landed in a ditch.

Her passenger, 23-year-old Tenisha Cooper was killed instantly.

No other cars were involved.

investigations later found Little had been on the phone at the time and was two-and-a-half times over the legal drink drive limit.

On top of that, she only had a provisional licence, was not displaying learner "L" plates and had no one in the car qualified to supervise her.

Witnesses testified that Little had been holding her phone in front of her face and driving erratically before the crash, including drifting onto the hard shoulder and back onto the carriageway several times.

James Ward from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said all of those factors were "key" in charging Little with death by dangerous driving.

“Little initially claimed not to be driving and attempted to blame the death of her friend on the emergency services and then on Tenisha Cooper herself for causing the crash," he said.

"Thanks to a detailed police investigation the CPS was able to build a compelling case which resulted in a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.

“Our thoughts remain with Tenisha’s family, including her young son, at this difficult time.”

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.