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03
Sept
Man sentenced following fatal Pateley Bridge collision
A man has been sentenced after admitting charges linked to a fatal collision in Pateley Bridge.
Bailey Chadwick, 19, was struck by a vehicle on the B6265 at Lupton Bank, between Pateley and Glasshouses, in the early hours of Sunday, July 20, last year.
Joseph Stott, 25, appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court today (September 3), where he was due to stand trial after denying failing to stop after a road accident, failing to report a road accident and driving while unfit through drink.
He admitted one offence of driving without third party insurance at an earlier hearing.
However, before proceedings began, Stott changed his plea for the driving while unfit through drink offence to guilty. The prosecution offered no evidence on failing to stop after a road accident and failing to report a road accident charges.
Curtis Dunkley, prosecuting, told the court that it was not the prosecution’s case that Stott, of Dairy Road in Darley, caused the death of Mr Chadwick.
Mr Dunkley said it had been accepted that the collision was “unavoidable” and that even a careful driver would not have been able to avoid Mr Chadwick in the road.
Night out
The court heard that Stott had been out with his partner and friends in Headingley, in Leeds, on the night of the incident, where he had been drinking in the Original Oak pub and Box bar.
Mr Dunkley said Stott, who wore a white shirt and blue jumper in court, had been captured on CCTV buying pints of cider, wine, Jagermeister and shots of baby Guinness.
The prosecutor said:
It is the prosecution’s case that it is assumed he consumed half of what he purchased.
Stott left Box bar with his partner at 1.40am, where he got into a taxi to Low Lane in Horsforth — around 3 miles away.
Mr Dunkley said the 25-year-old then went to a Shell garage, where Mr Singh, who worked at the garage, said the defendant had been “slurring his words and stumbling”.
Bailey Chadwick. Pic: Royal Oak
Footage from Stott’s girlfriend’s phone was shown in court, which the prosecution said corroborated Mr Singh’s account.
The court heard that Stott, who was staying at his partner's cousin's property on Low Lane in Horsforth, got into his car around 2.15am after an argument with his girlfriend.
He drove the 45 minute journey back to Pateley Bridge using rural roads, the court heard.
Mr Dunkley said it was during this journey, while unfit through drink, that Stott drove through the scene where Mr Chadwick was lying in the road and hit him.
He said:
It is not said that he caused the death of Mr Chadwick. Even a careful driver would not have been able to avoid the collision.
Mr Dunkley told the court that police traced a blue Ford B-Max car, which Stott was driving, to his home address where it was parked outside.
He gave no comment when interviewed by police on two occasions.
The prosecution said Stott was unfit to drive as he was seen to be buying and consuming alcohol in Headingley and was seen unsteady on his feet by witnesses.
‘Assumptions’
Philip Morris, defending, disputed the prosecution’s evidence of how impaired Stott would have been to drive.
Mr Morris told the court that the police and prosecution had made “assumptions” which could not be substantiated. He added that the investigation had been “fundamentally flawed”.
Mr Morris said:
The case is diluted as he has successfully negotiated a 45 minute drive home, which included a mostly rural route.
The defence pointed out that an investigation had concluded that Stott would not have been able to see Mr Chadwick lying in the road and that it was an unavoidable collision.
Mr Morris said:
Not only was it unavoidable, but entirely unexpected. He had no idea that he had passed over the body of Bailey Chadwick.
Mr Morris added that Stott made a “fundamentally flawed” decision to get in his car and drive home. But he added that the 25-year-old never intended to intentionally break the law.
A shrine to Bailey Chadwick alongside the road on which he died.
During the hearing, Dayle Knight, Mr Chadwick’s mother, gave a statement to court where she described his death as “leaving her world shattered”.
Ms Knight said the 19-year-old loved music and his beloved Sheffield Wednesday, where he tried to get to as many matches as he could.
She said:
He was so full of life, but that was stolen that night before he had the chance to begin.
She added that she now struggles with anxiety and is no longer the same person she was before Mr Chadwick’s death.
Irresponsible decision
Sentencing Stott, District judge, Mark Daley, said driving while unfit through drink was a "grossly irresponsible" decision.
The judge said Stott's vehicle "struck" Mr Chadwick on the journey back to Pateley Bridge, but added that it would have been "unavoidable" as he was lying in the road.
Judge Daley sentenced Stott to a 12-month community order, which included 10 rehabilitation activity days, 135 hours of unpaid work and an 80-day alcohol abstinence requirement.
He was also disqualified from driving for 20 months and ordered to pay £400 in court costs and a victim surcharge of £114.
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