Burton woman 'panicked and drove off' after an accident in which a student died

A 24-year-old Burton woman who panicked and drove 30 miles away from the scene of an accident in which a student died has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Kirsten Ellis, of Wetmore Road, drove her damaged BMW from Nottingham to Burton after she collided with pedestrian Xizhu Miao on the A52 Derby Road in October 2016.

Nottingham Crown Court was told Ellis "panicked" and was in shock after the collision, in which Miss Miao, who was also known as Helen, suffered injuries which claimed her life.

Helen, who was 26 and a post-graduate student at Nottingham Trent University, held a first-class honours degree from the University of Lincoln and was helped by pedestrians at the scene. Ellis, whose car windscreen had been shattered, handed herself in at Burton Police Station following the collision.

She pleaded guilty on Monday, February 19, to failing to stop after an accident.

She had been on trial for causing the death of Miss Miao on October 8, 2016, by careless driving while over the prescribed limit of a drug, Benzoylecgonine (BZE), a product of the body's metabolism of cocaine.

Ellis, who pleaded not guilty to the allegation, had told police she had taken cocaine "a couple of nights earlier."

Partway through the trial the Judge withdrew the case from the jury's consideration and directed they return a not guilty verdict on the charge.

Judge John Burgess said in his ruling on Friday, February 16: "The evidence as a whole does not exclude the possibility that Helen stepped out into the path of the defendant's motor car, giving her no chance to react, whether she was affected by cocaine or not.

"In those circumstances I am driven to the conclusion that I have to withdraw this case from the jury's consideration and direct a verdict of not guilty."

He said the prosecution had not been able to call any direct evidence as to what happened at the time of the collision.

"There was no eye-witness as to what happened. There is no CCTV, and there is no acceptance by the defendant that she was responsible for the collision.

"In a prepared statement that she gave some three months after the collision she said that she was not travelling at speed. She was keeping up with the flow of the traffic, and that she did not see the pedestrian prior to impact."

The Judge had heard submissions from prosecutor Sarah Knight and defence barrister Simon Davis before making his decision.

Mr Davis said within an hour and a half Ellis's boyfriend had called police. She later walked to the local police station and handed herself in.

Mr Davis said: "She is extremely remorseful for what occurred that night in respect of leaving the scene when she did."