Quote:
JP BANNED AFTER DEATH OF BIKER
09:45 - 16 November 2007
A North Lincolnshire magistrate involved in a crash which resulted in the death of a motorcyclist has been found guilty of careless driving.
Joan Brighton has been banned from driving for 12 months for her part in the accident near Barton-Upon-Humber.
Mr Parkin had tried to swerve out of the way of her PT Cruiser.
He died at the scene, and his pillion passenger, Tracey Pearson, from Hull, was seriously injured, suffering a broken pelvis.
Brighton (67), of St Andrew's Street, Kirton in Lindsey, maintained her innocence but was convicted after a 10-hour trial.
In court she said it would have been easier for her to have pleaded guilty, but this had 'ruined' her life.
As well as the 12-month ban she received a £600 fine and was ordered to pay £455 in costs.
The court heard how Brighton had been a magistrate in Scunthorpe for 17 years before stepping down from the role after the crash.
She stated she had checked to make sure there was no oncoming traffic before pulling out of a layby on the A1077 near Barton to do a U-turn.
Yesterday under cross-examination by prosecutor Victoria Mills, Brighton said: "I didn't see or hear anything. I have gone over it in my head a million times.
"It would have been easier for me to have pleaded guilty, but this has ruined my life.
"I was determined to come to court and sort it out because my reputation matters to me and the truth matters to me."
She told the court Mr Parkin 'must have been speeding' for her not to have seen him in her mirror coming up the road towards where she was pulling out.
Earlier in the day, the court heard from police accident investigator Pc Stephen Place, who said Brighton's manoeuvre should have only taken between 2.2 and 3.7 seconds.
He said Mr Parkin would have had to be driving at speeds of between 126mph and 212mph to have come up the road undetected.
He told the court that simply would not have been possible.
Pc Place also said Mr Parkin's Suzuki motorbike had been smashed into pieces with the force of the impact as Brighton turned across its path.
He added: "In my opinion, there is no evidence that this motorcyclist was doing anything wrong and no evidence that he was using excessive speed.
"It is a classic case of a driver who looks, but unfortunately does not see."
Miss Pearson (35), who was Mr Parkin's girlfriend, said she had been unable to remember much about the incident.
However, she told the court a woman in the car was looking straight at her and Mr Parkin, of Archer Road, Waltham, on the motorcycle in the seconds before the crash.
"I remember looking up and seeing a car lengthways across the road. I saw a woman in the car with grey hair and she was looking straight at us; she saw us."
Later in the hearing, the court heard the woman Miss Pearson was referring to was Brighton's friend and front seat passenger Shirley Smith, who had helped check for oncoming traffic.
She told the court she did not see Mr Parkin's motorcycle, or another motorcycle and a car which were also on the road.
Under cross-examination, she maintained: "I didn't see a motorcycle on that road because there wasn't one there."
Following the verdict, Miss Pearson and Mr Parkin's family declined to comment.
Chairman of the bench, Kerry Baylis, said: "We should like to offer our sympathy to the family and friends.
"You conducted yourselves with great dignity throughout the course of this trial."
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