A nurse stopped at her local shop to purchase a pack of biscuits on her way to work, but what happened changed the trajectory of her life forever.
Natalie Rae Barnes 35 fatally struck James Huyton, 32 off his motorcycle on Bispham Road in Southport.
The former teacher claimed she’d not seen the dad before she turned directly into his path, giving him to chance of avoiding the collision. She desperately attempted to perform CPR on her victim in an ultimately futile bid to save his life, reports the Liverpool Echo.
On Friday, November 1, Liverpool Crown Court heard that Barnes had been driving her black Mercedes car westbound along the street in question shortly before 6.45 am on October 19 last year.
She turned right at the junction with Thornton Road without indicating and collided with Mr Huyton, who was travelling in the opposite direction on his red Suzuki motorbike.
Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, described how members of the public rushed to his aid following the crash, while the defendant performed CPR on the biker before the arrival of the emergency services. However, Mr Huyton was tragically pronounced dead at the scene at 7.40 am as a result of “chest trauma and significant internal injuries” sustained during the incident.
Both vehicles were said to have been travelling at a “regular speed” before the impact, with Mr Huyton shown on CCTV applying his brakes as the car cut across him. However, he was “unable to avoid the collision” with the other vehicle’s front nearside.
Barnes meanwhile was shown to have slowed but not stopped before performing the manoeuvre. Investigators found that Mr Huyton’s headlights would have been visible to her for up to eight seconds prior to the collision and remained in “continuous view” for five seconds beforehand.
The father of a three-year-old daughter was approximated to have had only one second to react to the event, making the crash “by then unavoidable”. Barnes subsequently passed roadside tests for having drink and drugs in her system, while there was “no evidence of her mobile phone being used” before the shocking accident.
When the defendant was interviewed by Merseyside Police on November 16, she claimed she “simply couldn’t explain how she had failed to see Mr Huyton.” The deputy ward manager told detectives that she had been making her five-minute commute to work at the time and was turning into Thornton Road as she intended to stop at a shop to purchase snacks including biscuits for her colleagues and cigarettes for herself.
Barnes has no previous convictions, although she has twice previously received penalty points for speeding in September and December 2021. Oliver Jarvis, defending, told the court: “It must be that the defendant had not been sufficiently concentrating. Much has been looked at as to how this has occurred. The defendant cannot say and has been at a loss to understand. The vehicle was in view for five seconds at least. She cannot give an explanation. Whether she looked but didn’t see, one doesn’t know.
“She makes no excuses. It is her fault and hers entirely. As soon as I saw her, she was full of remorse. The defendant is a former teacher, then she switched to nursing five years ago. She is recently married. Following her guilty plea, she was suspended from work. It is not known how her conviction will ultimately affect her employment.
“There is a letter from her manager outlining how the defendant has struggled with carrying the burden of the guilt she feels, causing the death as she did. She was a compassionate nurse towards her patients. A letter from the defendant’s partner sets out the guilt she feels. All she can say is ‘what have I done to his family?’. This was not a deliberate attempt to drive carelessly.
“There is no doubt that the defendant can and will be rehabilitated. She, of course, will live with this for the rest of her life. She never wishes to drive again.
“She has lived life hitherto only wanting to care for others. That is the career path she has always chosen. That is why she became a mental health nurse. She is utterly devastated that she has caused the death of somebody and it is entirely her fault. She cannot believe she is that person.
“She still seems to be a little in shock with the reality of what is happening and going through the court process, something she never imagined for a moment. Words are cheap, but the defendant is so very sorry for her actions.”
Barnes admitted causing death by careless driving. Appearing in the dock wearing a black top and glasses with her dark hair tied back in a ponytail, she put a tissue to her mouth and burst into tears as she was handed a nine-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
Sentencing, Judge Brian Cummings KC said: “You and James Huyton were travelling in opposite directions – you in a motor car and he on a motorcycle – both going to your respective places of work when you made a right turn across his path, causing a collision which resulted in his death. The consequences for him were plainly devastating. The consequences for others have also been devastating and will be lifelong.
“He was a young man, a young father, and his family and friends are, of course, heartbroken. I, of course, accept that you did not intend any of this. I accept that you yourself are devastated by what you have done, but you were at fault. Making a right turn is one of those manoeuvres on the road that calls for special concentration for obvious reasons.
“You turned without first stopping or indicating and so, from his point of view, he had no advanced warning. The first he knew about it was, it seems, about a second before, too late to take any meaningful action.
“That is how he lost his life, through no fault of his own. That is very difficult for his family to bear. No sentence the court can impose can ever undo what has happened, nor can it in any way compensate for the loss of life. That was, of course, invaluable.
“I accept that you have shown and feel genuine remorse. I hear people say quite often that they are sorry, but in circumstances where I am left feeling sceptical about that. I absolutely accept that you are devastated by what you have done.”
Barnes was also banned from driving for five years. She was told to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.
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