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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Esther Halligan & Ryan Merrifield

Drink driver killed young mum in horror crash while showing off new sports car

A "selfish" motorist killed a young mum after getting behind the wheel of his new sports car while over the drink drive limit.

Simon Allport ploughed into primary school teacher Amie Linton's car after overshooting a bend in Stokesley, North Yorkshire.

The 44-year-old was today jailed for five years and seven months, reports TeessideLive.

Ms Linton, 33, had been driving home along Tanton Road to Great Ayton when her Nissan Qashqai was hit with such force it went through a hedge and into a field.

Allport, a site manager in the building industry, was said to be driving his BMW "at speed and aggressively", having already mounted a verge before the fatal collision on July 14, 2020.

The defendant, of Ingleby Barwick, denied causing death by dangerous driving - but pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

His plea was accepted before he was jailed at Teesside Crown Court this afternoon.

Simon Allport has been jailed (Police handout)

Prosecutor Soheil Khan said Allport had drunk two pints of lager with a friend at the Master Cooper Pub, on Acklam Road in Middlesbrough, at around 4pm on the day of the crash.

He offered to give his friend a drive in his new car and the two set off towards Coulby Newham in the BMW M4 Coupe.

A driver on the A174 described hearing a "loud noise" before being passed by the BMW.

Another driver near Stokesley said Allport was "flying" as she saw him "mount the near side verge".

A Vauxhall Corsa driver said she screamed as she was on Tantum Bridge and Allport came "hurting towards" her, his car came over the white line having moved into her lane.

At 5.30pm, whilst Allport negotiated a right hand bend after the bridge, he was a metre into Ms Linton's lane.

She was driving in the opposite direction and was forced off the road at an angle, rotating 180 degrees.

Two doctors stopped to help Ms Linton, but she was pronounced dead after arriving at hospital.

Allport was found to be driving over the alcohol limit.

He told a nurse at Harrogate Hospital that he "shouldn't say in front of the police", but he wasn't wearing a seatbelt.

Ms Linton's dad, Richard Linton, spoke in court on behalf of his family, as well as his daughter's partner Andrew.

He said their lives were "devastated forever".

He recalled how a police car had pulled up in their quiet cul-de-sac and told them Ms Linton had died in a crash "less than a mile away".

"It was the worst day of our lives," continued Mr Linton.

"Amie's friends had to retrieve her belongings from the field.

"This has left my granddaughter with no mother and Andrew, her partner, having to bring her up alone whilst trying to manage his own business."

The grieving dad went on to describe how his daughter had "worked hard" to pursue her teaching career and "had a passion for helping children".

"We will never get over this trauma," he said, adding writing the statement "is one of the hardest things to do and we will always miss Amie so much".

In a statement also read by Mr Linton, Ms Linton's partner Andrew said: "I have lost my support, my sounding board, my love and my life partner.

"My greatest fear now is that my daughter's life will be blighted by Amie's death, as ours have been."

Defending, Eleanor Fry said an expert report had found the two cars' speeds were "not dissimilar" and that there was a lack of evidence clarifying which was going fastest.

She said her client is genuinely remorseful.

More than 20 members of Ms Linton's family and friends attended the sentencing.

Judge Paul Watson QC said it was "not possible" to tell how fast Allport had been driving but that it was clear he had been "driving aggressively and at excessive speed".

On top of his prison sentence, Allport was also disqualified from driving for five years and 10 months.

Major Collision Investigation Detective Inspector, Jez Bartley of North Yorkshire Police, said the defendant was more than one-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit.

"He will need to learn to live with the consequences of his selfish and deadly actions for the rest of his life," he added.

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