A pensioner accused of causing a baby’s death will claim a defence of insanity through undiagnosed Alzheimer’s, a court has heard.
Shelagh Robertson was driving home from a shopping trip to Tesco when she turned into the path of an oncoming van on the A10 at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire, forcing it onto the pavement on Jan 22 2021, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
The van hit Rachael Thorold. who was pushing her five-month-old son Louis in a pram.
Louis was killed and Mrs Thorold was thrown into the air, leaving her seriously injured.
Kaye Lewis, another driver who witnessed the crash, said in a statement read to the court that the van driver was “fighting the steering wheel but the van just kept going towards the pavement”.
She said that she remembered seeing Mrs Thorold’s face and the “absolute terror of it when she saw the van” before she was “thrown 15 feet in the air then landed”.
“I saw the pram just disintegrate into pieces and go under the van,” she said.
Mrs Robertson, of Stables Yard, Waterbeach, denies causing the infant’s death by careless driving.
‘Undiagnosed Alzheimer’s before and on day of accident’
James Leonard, defending, told jurors it was “agreed by any reasonable objective test that the way Mrs Robertson drove on the day of the accident fell below the standard to be expected from a reasonable, competent driver”.
“The issue in this case is whether or not Mrs Robertson was suffering from insanity as it’s recognised by law,” he said.
“The defence case is that Mrs Robertson had undiagnosed atypical Alzheimer’s disease both before the accident and on the day, and that’s what will lead to the conclusion that the defence of insanity is made out.”
Judge Bishop told the jury that for a defence of insanity to succeed, they must be persuaded that Mrs Robertson was suffering from atypical Alzheimer’s disease at the time of the crash and that “as a result of that disease she experienced disrupted thinking”.
He said this disrupted thinking could either be that, as she drove the car, she “didn’t know what she was doing” or that she “didn’t know that what she was doing was wrong by the standards of reasonable people”.
David Matthew, prosecuting, said Mrs Robertson had turned right, driving her Mazda 2 car into the path of an oncoming Renault van that was travelling south along the A10 at the junction with Car Dyke Road.
“The impact forced the van onto the pavement,” he said.
“Walking along the pavement towards the van were Rachael Thorold and pushing in front of her, her five-month-old son Louis in a pushchair. The van went over them.”
He said it happened at about 3.50pm and it was light, with sunset not until 4.30pm.
The van was driven by Andrew Freestone, a delivery driver, Mr Matthew said, describing him as a “careful and professional driver”.
He said the incident was captured by dashcam footage and that Mr Freestone was driving “properly, sensibly and within the speed limit” which at the time was 50mph.
Mr Matthew said that Mr Freestone “tried to steer to his right” to avoid a collision, adding: “He saw the pushchair, heard thumps, saw the woman with the pushchair go up in the air.”
‘I just didn’t see him coming’
He said of Mrs Robertson: “Obviously a competent and careful driver doesn’t drive into the path of oncoming traffic which has the right of way without looking.”
The prosecution counsel said that a witness said they spoke to Mrs Robertson after the crash as she sat in the back of another car, and said she told them: “I just didn’t see him coming.”
He said that another witness described Mrs Robertson as “alert, agile” and “able to scoot across the Mazda and leave by the passenger door” after the crash.
Louis was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital, Mr Matthew said.
‘Less than half a second to react’
Mr and Mrs Thorold left the courtroom as about 15 seconds of footage from the van’s dashcam, showing the vehicle’s approach to the junction and the Mazda pulling into its path, was played to jurors.
The clip stopped before the moment of impact.
Pc Matthew Bill, of Cambridgeshire Police, said that Mr Freestone had “less than half a second” to react to the Mazda car pulling out of a filter lane and across his path.
He said that the speed limit of the road has since been reduced from 50mph to 40mph.
The trial, due to last less than a week, continues.
