Man guilty of causing girlfriend's death in crash

A man has been found guilty of causing the death of his girlfriend in a car crash on a country lane.

Lily-May Vaughan, 17, was the passenger in a car driven by Logan Addison, 19, when it came off the road near Shawbury Heath in Shropshire on 4 February 2023.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard she died at the scene after the car hit an electricity pole and flipped over on to its roof.

Addison, who was 17 at the time, had denied his driving was dangerous and said he was driving within the speed limit.

He told the court he had seen an Audi pull out from a junction and lost control of his VW Golf Estate on a loose road surface near the entrance to an industrial estate.

But prosecutor Peter McCartney told the jury the defendant had been "thrashing the VW down that lane" and a witness who lived nearby, Gwen Evans, told the court she had seen his car pass in a "flash of a blur".

Mr McCartney said the country lane was unsuitable for driving at speed because of the number of properties and entranceways running alongside.

"That speed on that country lane was hugely inappropriate and we say dangerous," he said.

The driver of the Audi, who denied he had pulled out too far into the road, also said Mr Addison had been driving at speed.

The trial heard evidence from a police collision investigator who said, based on tyre markings, it was likely Mr Addison had been driving over the 60mph speed limit, but it was not possible to say for certain.

She noted his car appeared to have travelled 57m (187ft) from the first tyre track, which suggested a loss of control and that the car had been travelling over 60mph

Mr Addison was taken to hospital with back and neck fractures after the crash and told the court he had been driving at a speed of between 50 and 55mph.

The trial also heard Addison described as an "inexperienced" driver who had passed his driving test the year before and bought his car two or three weeks previously

The prosecution said his attitude towards the rules of the road were demonstrated by his decision not to wear a seatbelt on the day of the crash.

Addison, from Hazels Road in Shawbury, will return to the court to be sentenced on 15 May and has been told to expect a jail term.

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.