Driver in fatal head-on crash distracted by heated steering wheel
Guitarist Christopher Allen was killed in the incident after business chief Lynn Worgan took her eyes off the road for five seconds.
A business chief who killed a rock musician in a head-on smash after becoming distracted by her heated steering wheel will not be jailed.
Lynn Worgan, 66, took her eyes off the road for up to five seconds and steered her Volvo into the path of an Audi driven by Christopher Allen.
The 47-year-old guitarist was airlifted to hospital but died from multiple head injuries after the crash in Poole, just yards from Worgan’s Cheshire home, in May last year.
Prosecutor Clare Oliver said: “It seems [Worgan’s] intention was to put on her heated steering wheel. She had to look away from the road in order to do that and pressed the button twice.
“The car veered across the road in the direction of where Mr Allen was travelling from. A witness travelling behind her said she strayed for about five seconds. Mr Allen swerved away...but could not avoid a collision.”
Worgan, who admitted causing death by careless driving, was handed a 26-week suspended sentence, 200 hours’ unpaid work and a two-year driving ban at Chester Magistrates’ Court, and was ordered to pay £239 costs and a victim surcharge.
Prosecutors’ pleas to transfer the case to a crown court where more senior judges would have had greater sentencing powers were rejected. District Judge Jack McGarva told Worgan: “Mr Allen was a relatively young man with a long life ahead of him. He actually pulled off the road to avoid being hit by you. His life has been wasted because of what happened.
“Nothing you can do or I can do can change that. But I hope that being able to hear the impact on his family helps you to understand where they are and the kind of wilderness they must be in. Mr Allen’s life has been wasted because of what happened.
“It would be easy to say ‘Send it to the crown court to let someone else make the decision’. But if I do I think I’d be abrogating my responsibility.”
Mr Allen’s grief-stricken sister Lesley Everall said later: “I left the court feeling angry. It felt like Chris did not matter, like it was all about the defendant. It was hard to hear she was looking at the steering wheel twice.
“Chris’s life meant so much. He made an amazing impact on so many lives. He had the ability to brighten up any room and touched all our hearts.
“I have suffered sleepless nights since the incident. At the lowest point I had thought about ending it all.”
Worgan, a director at a labelling firm run by husband David, said she had a “momentary lapse of concentration” before the crash.
James Coutts, defending, said: “She would wish to offer a heartfelt and unreserved apology.”
