British woman sentenced to 2 years behind bars after crashing her car and killing one while sending a Facebook message
A 53-year-old British woman was recently sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment after she crashed her car and killed one while sending a Facebook message on her phone.
According to the Metropolitan Police, on 3 February 2016, Wendy Thompson drove her VW Passatt and collided with a Ford Fiesta, which had broken down in lane one, and a red Hyundai Getz that had stopped to provide assistance. A man and his wife were inside the Hyundai. The 84-year-old driver, Rodney Lewis from Enfield, was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination gave cause of death as head injuries and a broken neck.
Mr Lewis’s 77-year-old wife – a passenger in the Hyundai – was taken to a north London hospital for treatment to a broken hip and pelvis. She has since been discharged from hospital. Wendy Thompson was not seriously injured in the collision.
Thompson was arrested and admitted to police that she had been sending a Facebook message on her phone and trying to plug the phone into a charger when the collision happened.
She was convicted and pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, having collided with two stationary vehicles while sending a Facebook message. Thompson was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment on Monday, 24 April. She was also disqualified from driving for ten years.