Impossible for driver accused of killing motorcyclist to have run red light, jury told

Elaine Dorey is accused of causing the death of 55-year-old grandmother Julie Corben in a crash on The Avenue in Fareham.

The 62-year-old adult care worker denies causing the death of Mrs Corben, of Hook Lane, Warsash, while she was travelling eastbound on the A27 on a black Harley-Davidson.

Yesterday, the jury heard the account of George Stubbs, who had been driving in a green Ford Ka two cars behind Dorey’s blue Fiat Doblo in Peak Lane before the crash.

Mr Stubbs’s witness statement to the police, given a week after the crash on June 15, 2015, said: ‘It would have been impossible for the lights to go from red to green back to amber in the short time before I approached the lights to turn on to Catisfield Road.’

The driver said that he was ‘a matter of seconds away’ from the Fiat Doblo before it turned left on the junction at Peak Lane on to The Avenue and that when he turned his car on to the junction, the lights for traffic heading on to Catisfield Road were green.

He told Portsmouth Crown Court: ‘They were green for me as I turned.’

Mr Stubbs added that as his car approached the filter lane, the lights were turning to amber.

When questioned by Robert Bryan, defending, if he stood by the statement, Mr Stubbs said he was ‘unsure’.

He said: ‘There is a possibility my timings could have been out. The lights do change very quickly from green to red.’

His evidence comes as jurors heard on Monday from Richard Tutt, prosecuting, that a cyclist, Carl Haynes, had heard from the person who he believed to be the driver say words to the effect of ‘I think I might have gone through on red’.

Mr Tutt had told the jury that collision investigators had said Mrs Corben, had been travelling between 40mph to 50mph in a 30mph speed limit. Jurors had heard Dorey, of Westcroft Road, Gosport, estimate her speed to be between 5mph and 15mph. Mr Stubbs’ evidence came as the jury visited the scene of the collision yesterday morning before proceedings resumed.

(Proceeding)