October 28, 2020 5.33 pm This story is over 41 months old

Teen driver admits she shouldn’t have driven with passenger in footwell

She had five other passengers in the car
Flowers laid at the scene in tribute to the Welton Cliff crash victims. | Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite

A newly qualified driver accused of causing a triple fatal crash admitted to a jury on Wednesday that she should not have driven with a passenger sitting in the footwell behind the front seat.

Kasey Boulton, giving evidence on the second day of her trial at Lincoln Crown Court, told the jury that the fatal collision occurred as she was driving from her home in the village of Welton towards Lincoln.

The three victims of the fatal crash: Ricky (left) Joby (centre) and Aiden (right).

Her Vauxhall Astra was designed to hold four passengers but she had five inside, with Ricky Sharp sitting in the footwell behind the front passenger seat.

Boulton said: “Obviously it was wrong. I shouldn’t do it. I didn’t think about the consequences. I was conscious that he was there and he shouldn’t be.

“I didn’t say to him to get out. I wish I had. I don’t know why I didn’t.

“At the time I didn’t think Ricky was in danger.”

She told the jury that she was confident she was driving at about 50mph out of the village of Welton towards the A15 when the collision occurred.

“I was familiar with the road. I’d driven on it before. It was one of only two roads out of the village.”

She told the jury she has no memory of driving along a straight stretch of road immediately before her car lost control and hit a tree.

“I don’t remember the impact or anything else before the accident.

“I can’t remember the car going off centre but I had a feeling of not travelling straight.”

She was asked by her barrister Michael Cranmer-Brown “Did you think at the time that your driving had caused the collision?” She replied “No”.

Boulton, who only passed her driving test a few weeks before the collision, added: “I consider myself to be a safe driver. Overall I felt confident to drive but I wasn’t experienced.”

Boulton, 19, is alleged to have hit a tree after losing control of her car as she drove along Heath Lane in Welton, near Lincoln.

The jury has heard that three passengers Ricky Sharp,17, Aiden Sawyer, 17, and Joby John Scrimshaw, 14, were killed in the collision which involved no other vehicle.

Miss Boulton and her two other passengers were also seriously injured.

The prosecution allege Boulton’s car was only designed to hold four passengers but at the time of crash had five with Ricky Sharp sitting in the footwell behind the front passenger.

Ian Way, prosecuting, told a jury that the overloading of the car caused the vehicle to be unbalanced which contributed to Boulton losing control.

Boulton, 19, of Heath Close, Welton, denies three charges of causing death by dangerous driving as a result of the incident on March 25, 2019.

The trial continues.