Drink-driver jailed after causing the death of her best friend in Barham
Ellie Lambert, of Kirby Rise in Barham, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court yesterday (19/08/24)
A 20-year-old woman has been jailed for over three years, after a collision in Barham where she had been drink-driving and a passenger in her car was killed.
Ellie Lambert, of Kirby Rise in Barham, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, Monday 19 August, where she was sentenced to 40 months’ imprisonment. She was also disqualified from driving for six years and eight months and will have to take an extended retest.
Lambert had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by driving without due care and attention while over the prescribed limit, with the proportion of alcohol in her blood 185 milligrammes in 100 millilitres of blood – the legal limit is 80mg in 100ml of blood.
The collision occurred in the early hours of Saturday 29 April 2023, when at just after 12.35am police were called to reports that a blue Vauxhall Corsa driven by Lambert had been involved in a collision on Thornhill Road.
Bethany McCauley, aged 18 and from Pinewood on the outskirts of Ipswich, was later identified as the front seat passenger and sadly died at the scene.
The court heard that Ellie Lambert and Bethany were friends and had spent the afternoon together in Colchester, before returning to Lambert’s home in Barham at about 6.30pm. At some point during the evening Lambert then drove them both to Whitehouse in Ipswich to pick-up a friend and go to McDonald’s, leaving there at around 11.30pm and dropping the friend off, before heading back to Barham.
Lambert told police in interview that she had no recollection of the collision, but the assessment of a forensic collision investigator determined that when driving down Thornhill Road – which is a residential street with a 30mph speed limit – Lambert failed to negotiate a shallow left-hand bend, which resulted in the car leaving the road, going across a grass verge and then onto the lawn of a bungalow where it collided with the base of a tree.
Following this impact, the car then continued across a gravel driveway before colliding with the corner of a garage. This impact caused significant damage to the front offside of the vehicle and the base of the garage. The lack of tearing to the grass or disturbance to the soil demonstrated that no braking or excessive steering was being applied to the vehicle.
The impact with the garage then caused the car to rotate and the front nearside then collided with a fence and a hedge, before travelling across a footpath, verge and road, rebounding and then coming to rest.
Nearby residents who had heard the loud bang caused by the collision went out to investigate and called the emergency services, with the first police officers arriving at the scene within a matter of minutes.
Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service and East of England Ambulance crews were also in attendance, but despite the best efforts of all the emergency responders, Bethany sadly died at the scene.
Lambert had to be extracted from the vehicle and was taken to Ipswich Hospital having sustained serious injuries. She was accompanied by a police officer in the back of the ambulance, who noted that she smelt of alcohol and was slurring her speech.
She remained in hospital for a lengthy period of recovery and after being discharged was voluntarily interviewed under caution by police on 17 July 2023.
Detective Constable Kelly Dale, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “This was a tragic incident that has highlighted all too starkly how dangerous and devastating it is to drink and drive.
“Bethany was only 18-years-old with her entire life ahead of her, but this was brought to an abrupt end as a result of Ellie Lambert’s actions that night. Those actions have also caused huge emotional turmoil for Bethany’s family, who continue to try to come to terms with her death.
“Lambert has shown remorse and clearly did not intend for what happened that night to take place. However, that is the risk you take if you get behind the wheel of a vehicle whilst more than two times the legal drink-drive limit.
“Alcohol - or any other substance - impairs your judgement and slows your reactions and as demonstrated in this incident, the consequences can be deadly. You are putting the lives of everyone in your vehicle and out on the roads in danger and our message is quite simply: don’t do it – it’s not worth the risk.”