Driver Runs Over drunk student Who slept Off On the Main Road

A drunk man was killed after laying down to sleep on a main road where he was run over by a motorist who mistook him for a dead badger, a court heard.
Student Andrew Cook, 34, was seen staggering around by the roadside before he apparently lain down in the northbound carriageway.
Other drivers stopped to remove what they could only see in the darkness was some kind of obstacle.
But before they had chance to do so a Vauxhall Corsa driven by Louise Jackson, 33, ploughed straight over Mr Cook's prone form, a jury heard.
Her car hit him with such force that all four wheels left the ground and he was knocked nine metres before coming to rest, Teesside Crown Court was told.
Miss Jackson later told police she thought she had run over the body of a badger, having had no idea the dark mound in the road was a person.
She denies causing Mr Cook's death by careless driving, claiming she only saw the obstacle laying in Durham, a metre before she hit it.
But when police reconstructed the scene they found a mannequin used to stand in for Mr Cook's motionless form was visible 123 metres ahead, giving them nine seconds to stop.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Nick Dry said Mr Cook was found to be three times the legal drink drive limit and had been staggering on a bus and then by the roadside before the incident at 10.15pm on March 20 last year.
Mr Dry said other drivers had seen the obstacle and one man turned around his car to go back to remove it.
He said:

"He was slowing to a stop with a view to removing the obstacle when he became aware of the defendant's black Corsa approaching from the opposite direction.
"It seemed she had not seen the object, she had not slowed before driving right over it causing her vehicle to leave the ground and weave from side to side.
"The witnesses realised to their horror it was in fact a person and were puzzled as to why the driver of the Corsa failed to take evasive action, stop or slow down. She stopped further down the road.
"Sadly Mr Cook died a short time later from multiple injuries and was found to have been three times the legal drink drive limit.
"A police officer arrived at the scene and the defendant said she ran over a dead animal, possibly a badger before she realised it might be a person. Her passenger Stephen Brown gave a similar account to a nearby resident.
"The Corsa suffered damage to its offside consistent with having struck Mr Cook, who came to rest some nine metres from the point of initial impact.

"In police interview the defendant said she braked and went over a dead badger or possibly a bin bag. She denied being distracted and claimed to have had her eyes on the road."
It was estimated her car was travelling at or possibly slightly over the 30mph speed limit, which would have given a stopping distance of between 30 and 41 yards.
Mr Dry said:
"By her account she had not been aware of the object until she was on top of it, with no time to brake. She said she first became aware of it a metre away.
"She accepts she had things on her mind and may have been chatting to her passenger and may have been distracted.
"It is the crown's case she cannot have been paying proper attention given her failure to see the danger and take appropriate action."

Miss Cook, of Willington, County Durham, denies causing death by careless driving and the trial continues.



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