A 21-year-old woman has admitted killing a “kind, loving and caring” pedestrian after “grossly” losing control of her car at speed.
Rosie Hanson was delivering a takeaway in a VW Golf when she struck 27-year-old Ryan Phillips in Marine Parade, Sheerness, on January 17, 2024.
Mr Phillips, who was hit near the entrance to Barton’s Point Coastal Park, had been enjoying an evening walk with his girlfriend at the time.
Hanson, of Mimosa Avenue, Minster, initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing death by careless driving during a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court last December.
However, standing in the dock today (May 5), she admitted the offence, as well as a second charge of causing Mr Phillips’ death while uninsured.
Her lawyer, Allan Goh, explained that although the defendant had insurance, the terms of her cover may not have applied to takeaway deliveries.
He also told the court that Hanson maintains her assertion that she was “startled” by an animal.
But prosecutor Tom Nicholson said that particular issue of the case was “perhaps of less consequence” given the 60mph speed she was travelling – on what was then a 40mph stretch of road – and then “lost control so grossly” that she struck a pedestrian on the pavement.
Adjourning proceedings until July 2, Judge Oliver Saxby KC warned Hanson of the need to assist the probation service in preparing a pre-sentence report.
“The more honest you can be with probation, the better,” he told her. “They are very good at sussing people out.”
Hanson was released on bail subject to an interim driving ban.
Members of Mr Phillips’ family and loved ones attended the brief hearing. A tribute to him on a GoFundMe page reads: “Ryan was a kind, loving and caring young man.
“He had a bright future ahead of him, he was going places, the world was his oyster!”
Due to concerns over the number of serious and fatal crashes in the area, the speed limit on Marine Parade has since been lowered to 30 mph for a distance of 377m in an easterly direction, starting from outside the Catamaran Yacht Club.
