May 11, 2022 12.25 pm This story is over 21 months old

Woman denies causing fatal Corby Glen motorbike crash

Evidence shows the bikers were travelling over the speed limit

A woman from Corby Glen has gone on trial accused of causing the death of a motorcyclist by careless driving.

Judith Ward, 67, is charged with  causing the death of 60-year-old Richard Newbold by driving a silver Kia Sportage Index carelessly on the A151 Station Road at Corby Glen.

Ward, of Swinstead Road, Corby Glen, denies the charge.

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court heard the collision occurred as Mrs Ward turned right towards Corby Glen from the Swayfield junction at about 12.15pm on August 9, 2020.

Mr Newbold was on a BMW motorcycle in a group of bikers who were travelling in the opposite direction, the jury was told.

Witnesses described Mrs Ward accelerating slowly out of the junction.

Jeremy Janes, prosecuting, alleges Mrs Ward was trying to join the main A151 carriageway when it was inappropriate and unsafe to do so.

At the scene of the collision Mrs Ward told a witness that it was clear left and right before she pulled out, and insisted that she looked left and right because she knew the road has a dip in it.

Mrs Ward also told a police officer at the scene that she didn’t see anything after she looked left and right, and was careful because she knew the junction had a view of a blind bend and the crest of a hill.

During the account Mrs Ward said she pulled out and only then saw the motorbike coming.

In both accounts at the scene Mrs Ward made no mention of an oncoming car.

The jury heard Mrs Ward was interviewed by police three weeks after the collision on 3 September, 2020.

During that interview Mrs Ward said having looked to her right she saw a car coming, and then a motorbike coming from behind the car.

Lincolnshire Police collision investigator Geoffrey Barlow told the jury it was not possible to calculate the speed of Mr Newbold’s motorbike.

He estimated it would have taken between 3.14 and 4.01 seconds for Mrs Ward to start pulling out and reach the point of impact with the motorbike.

Mr Barlow told the jury: “I believe the motorcycle would have been in view at the point she pulled out the junction.”

The jury heard there was evidence that the group of bikers were travelling above the 60mph speed limit, and that Mr Newbold swerved before the collision.

The trial continues.