Ex-North East magistrate convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in head-on crash on A696

Jacquelin Curtis, who sat in English law courts for 15 years until she moved to Scotland, left support worker Susan Richards with a small subarachnoid hemorrhage, multiple fractures and in need of emergency surgery after the head-on smash in Northumberland.

Curtis and her retired police officer husband had been making a 10-hour, 400 mile journey and had taken turns driving overnight before the catastrophic collision in July 2022.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Curtis, who owns a pre-school nursery in Kent, had left Sittingbourne with her husband and their small dog at around 9pm to avoid traffic and hot weather during the journey home to Galashiels.

The court heard Curtis's husband had been driving at the start of the journey but she was behind the wheel for the last stretch, from Washington services and the collision happened on the A696 in Northumberland.

Curtis, of Abbotsford Road, Galashiels, Scotland, suffered serious injuries and multiple fractures, including to her spinal vertebrae, herself in the crash.

The 61-year-old, who has a clean driving licence, character references and no convictions, denied causing serious injury by dangerous driving and claimed she was well rested and alert before the crash but was found guilty by a jury after a trial.

The defendant, who was familiar with the long journey, denied falling asleep while driving.

Judge Tom Moran said there is a "very strong argument" that Curtis should not go to jail but added he required further information before sentence is imposed.

The judge imposed an interim driving disqualification until the sentence hearing on January 29.

Judge Moran granted her bail in the meantime and said: "This is obviously an extremely sad situation for everybody concerned.

"As I've already indicated, without definitively saying what the sentence will be, I recognise how strong the argument is that you should not receive an immediate prison sentence but the court needs to know exactly what all options are."

The judge ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Prosecutor Jane Foley told the court the case was a "tragedy" for all involved it added it was "caused by the defendant falling asleep, albeit briefly".

Miss Foley told jurors: "This case concerns a head-on road traffic collision on the A696 in Northumberland which left a woman Susan Richards with multiple serious, life changing injuries.

"The Crown say that collision was caused by dangerous driving on the part of the defendant Jacquelin Curtis who drove her grey Ford Galaxy onto the wrong side of the road and into the path of the Vauxhall."

The court heard the victim was driving lawfully on the eastbound single carriageway and Curtis was driving west.

Miss Foley said: "The Crown say the defendant misjudged a bend and her Ford motor car crossed into the oncoming lane, directly into the path of the Vauxhall.

"The two vehicles collided offside to offside, essentially head-on."

Miss Foley added: "The Crown's case is a straight forward but catastrophic case of wrong-side driving."

The victim, a support worker, suffered a small subarachnoid hemorrhage, a brain bleed, a fractured spine, fractured sternum and a fracture and dislocation to her right foot that required emergency surgery.

Miss Richards said in her statement she had been on her way to work that morning and has no memory of what happened.

She added: "I don't remember being in an accident, I only remember being on a hospital ward and nurses speaking to me."