Drink-driver who mowed down pedestrian jailed for six years

Aug 9 2006 Wirral News

A MOTORIST who mowed down a woman as she crossed a road holding her husband's hand has been jailed for six years.

Lee Dodd, 22, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to causing the death of 51-year-old Jean Howitt by dangerous driving.

Lynda Oldham, prosecuting, told the court Dodd had been watching England's first World Cup football match at the Moreton Arms pub in Moreton on June 10 and was seen drinking lager and spirits.

The court heard Dodd asked his friend, Trevor Brown, if he would like to go for a drive in his new Honda Civic car and he described being driven along with the music playing very loudly inside the vehicle.

Mrs Howitt, who was recovering from a broken foot, was walking across Leasowe Road with her husband, Andrew, and he noticed a car in the distance, where the speed limit is 30 mph. Dodd, of Blundells Drive, Moreton, was arrested two hours after the crash and breath-tested two hours later.

A back calculation of the reading showed he was three times over the legal drink-drive limit at the time of the collision.

An accident investigator concluded Dodd was travelling between 54 and 66 mph.

The court heard Mr and Mrs Howitt had been married for 26 years.