Driver who killed baby in pram outside hospital has sentence reduced

A DRIVER who struck and killed an eight-month-old baby in her pram outside a hospital has had her prison sentence reduced at the Court of Appeal, in what judges described as a "truly tragic" case.

- CALLUM PARKE

Bridget Curtis pressed down on the accelerator of her automatic BMW 520d car after stopping outside Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, on June 21 2023, causing it to mount a kerb and collide with the pushchair of Mabli Cariad Hall, from the Neath area.

Mabli, who had just said a final goodbye to her paternal grandmother Betty Hall, who was receiving end-of-life care at the hospital, sustained fatal head injuries and died in hospital days later.

Curtis, who was 70 at the time of the offence and is now 71, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving last September and was jailed for four years at Swansea Crown Court in January.

At the Court of Appeal yesterday, her barrister said the sentence was "manifestly excessive" and should be reduced, stating that the case concerned a "lapse of concentration".

Three senior judges ruled that Curtis's sentence was "manifestly excessive" and reduced it to one of three years, while increasing her disqualification from driving from eight years to seven-and-a-half years.

Mr Justice Butcher, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Judge Richard Marks KC, said: "We say at once that this is a truly tragic case.