Man sentenced after causing teenager's death
Wigan man given eight and half year sentence.
A man has been jailed after causing the death of a 19-year-old woman by driving dangerously in Wigan.
Stuart Rudd of Walkden Avenue East, Wigan was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court today, Thursday 31st March 2016, to eight and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence.
He has also been disqualified from driving for 10 years and will be forced to undergo an extended test when he is eligible to reapply for a driving license.
On the evening of Sunday 16 August 2015, Rudd went into Wigan town centre and spent a number of hours drinking alcohol before getting into a Ford Focus ST with the intention of driving home.
He then proceeded to drive at speed along Central Parkway in Wigan before attempting to overtake another vehicle on a blind corner.
Whilst trying to overtake the vehicle, Rudd’s car collided with an oncoming Peugeot 206 and hit it at such force that the car did a full 360 degree rotation and landed back on its wheels. Numerous witnesses have described the noise made by the collision as sounding like an explosion.
Nineteen-year-old Isobelle Charlotte Woodall, who was travelling as a passenger in the Peugeot, sustained serious head injuries and was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
Further enquiries revealed that Rudd did not have a full driving license and lied to his insurance company to get cover for the car.
Police Constable Neil Pennington of GMP’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: “The reckless actions of Stuart Rudd last August took the life of a young woman who had her whole future ahead of her.
“He has robbed a loving family of a sister and a daughter, leaving them absolutely distraught.
“The fact that he has been sentenced today for a catalogue of driving offences shows that him driving drunk was not a momentary lapse in judgement but the actions of a man who does not care about the laws of the road.
“I hope the sentence passed her today will bring Isobelle’s family some form of closure for their devastating loss.”