Young woman admits causing 'dear friend's' death in car crash

Guilty: Megan Mitchell admitted causing her friend's death.Newsline

A young driver has admitted causing a crash that killed her "dear friend".

Leanne Slesser, 21, died instantly when Megan Mitchell's car crashed into a country cottage on the A937 Marykirk to Laurencekirk road, in Aberdeenshire, on August 24, 2010.

On Thursday Mitchell, 20, admitted a charge of death by careless driving when she appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

The court heard Mitchell was driving too fast for the road and conditions when she ended up on the opposite carriageway and smashed into the house.

She broke down in the dock as her lawyer apologised to her friend's family in the public gallery.

Mitchell, of Fordoun, in Aberdeenshire, was driving back from an appointment accompanied by Miss Slesser, who was in the front passenger seat, when she lost control of the black Vauxhall Corsa.

It emerged that Miss Slesser, of Laurencekirk, was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision.

Fiscal depute Neil Shand said the road surface was damp and a witness had told of "concerns" about the speed of the car and said it had been travelling too close to the verge minutes before the impact.

He said an investigation found that the car had gone into a skid after coming into contact with the grass verge.

The vehicle first collided with a garden wall before spinning off into the wall of the cottage.

Mr Shand said: "The accused was initially unconscious but later woke up and was hysterical.

"The deceased was also within the car and was unresponsive.

"While members of the public stopped at the scene and efforts were made to attempt CPR, it became clear that the deceased had died and the subsequent post mortem confirmed that the death would have been instantaneous.

"The most significant injury was to the deceased's head and her spleen was extremely badly damaged.

"A full collision investigation was carried out. It was confirmed that the deceased had not been wearing her seat belt at the time of the collision."

The court heard the pair, both former Mearns Academy pupils, were employed as project workers at a community centre in Laurencekirk at the time of the incident.

Traumatised

Defence agent Gail Goodfellow said Mitchell had been left traumatised by Miss Slesser’s death and had since tried to commit suicide to "punish herself".

She said: "She has accepted responsibility for the death of a very dear and close friend.

"These girls worked together and spent a lot of time together. They were good friends.

"This is indeed a tragedy for both families concerned but, very importantly, Miss Mitchell wishes to extend her absolute and sincere apologies to Miss Slesser's family for the loss and pain they are clearly suffering."

Miss Slesser had hoped to join the ambulance service. She was one of the youngest members of the First Response team based in Laurencekirk.

Tributes from friends and colleagues poured in for the "bright and bubbly" project worker in the days after her death.

Money was raised at her funeral to help buy equipment for the emergency service support charity.

At the hearing, Sheriff Graeme Napier passed the condolences of the court to Miss Slesser’s family for their "sad and tragic loss".

He said: "I have read the victim impact statements and clearly she was a much loved member of the family and I'm also conscious that her dad clearly found it particularly hard to set out his feelings."

Mitchell was banned from driving until sentence next month.

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