Woman jailed for two years over crash that killed her boyfriend
A woman whose boyfriend died after her car smashed into a tree has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Megan Wagstaff, 21, lost control of her Seat Ibiza on a road in Atherstone after boasting she could complete a 25 minute journey in 10 minutes.
She pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to causing the death of 21-year-old Harry Jenks by dangerous driving after the incident at B4116 Coleshill Road on March 25 last year.
Wagstaff, who had originally denied the charge, was driving Mr Jenks, an Aston University student from Burntwood, and friend Poppy Daniels to Coleshill at 1.40am.
Prosecutor Antonie Muller said Miss Daniels had asked how long the journey would take with the satnav indicating it would take 25 minutes. But Wagstaff bragged: "Well we’ll do it in 10."
Mr Muller said: "She certainly drove like that, and was told by both Poppy Daniels and Harry Jenks to slow down. She did not, and moments before she lost control, she took her eyes off the road.
"She noticed the right-hand bend but was going too fast to negotiate the immediately following left-hand bend, mounting the kerb and striking a tree in mid-air with the off-side rear of the car."
Mr Jenks was declared dead at the scene by paramedics after the defendant got out and raised the alarm. She was left with a bleed on the brain and other injuries and was in hospital for almost a week – with Poppy also injured.
'No words to describe the pain'
Harry’s distraught mother Dawn Jenks said in a statement read in court that his death had left her feeling suicidal, and she has to rely on anti-depressants and sleeping tablets, adding: "There are no words to describe the pain we are going through."
Lewis Perry, defending, said: "It is a tragic case, as everyone in court will appreciate, for all those involved – particularly for the deceased’s family, but also for Miss Wagstaff herself."
He said she was driving within the national speed limit for the road, but Judge Porter said it was "in excess" of what was appropriate for the stretch.
The judge said he understood Mr Jenks and Wagstaff had been in a relationship for a couple of weeks.
Mr Perry, who said they were "certainly very close friends", said Wagstaff, a hairdresser, currently has a partner and is pregnant and expecting to give birth in September.
He said she had suffered significant mental health issues since the incident and had received counselling, and he argued for a suspended sentence.
But jailing Wagstaff, of Sutton Coldfield, Judge Potter told her: "The sad fact is that there is nothing I can do by way of sentence that can possibly reflect the loss of Harry Jenks to his family.
"Motor vehicles of all sorts, if not driven with care, constitute lethal weapons. You were overconfident on a road you knew well, and ignored warning you were given."
"On being told how long the satnav system said it would take for that journey, you made a boast that you would be able to do it in less than half the time.
"I am quite satisfied you took that as something of a challenge, and it led you to drive far too quickly for the road conditions where the road surface was damp.
"It is regrettable that when you were interviewed you did not tell the truth. I’m not satisfied you were exceeding the speed limit, but you were doing well in excess of what was appropriate on that road in the circumstances."
Wagstaff was also banned from driving for six years and three months.
