Death driver dazzled by headlight, court heard

8:17pm Wednesday 13th February 2008

A DRIVER who ran over a mother-of-two said he was dazzled by another car's headlights moments before hitting her.

John Rosevere, aged 61, of Westland Avenue, Farnworth, denies causing the death of Val Sydall by dangerous driving on December 2, 2006.

Bolton Crown Court heard Rosevere suffered from migraine attacks, which cause him to see flashing lights and make his fingers go numb.

The jury was told today that he felt one coming on when he was at his cousin's house that night. He had been watching CSI with the family but left early to go home and take his medication.

As he was driving along Buckley Lane, Farnworth, and waiting to turn right into Greenhill Avenue, where Miss Sydall was lying in the road, he was dazzled by a car's headlights.

It caused him to see flashes in front of his eyes, which impaired his vision as he turned the corner in his Daewoo Nubira estate car.

Rosevere told the court: "There was no chance to stop before going over the object in the road. It was too late to brake.

"It was in the middle of the road and I thought it was a big pile of rags. If I thought it was a person, I would have stopped."

He said that children would often put things in the road at night and had previously seen a shopping trolley and milk crates there.

Rosevere told the court the object was in the middle of the road, about a foot tall and four foot long.

The court previously heard mother-of-two Miss Sydall, aged 32, had spent the afternoon drinking lager and wine with family at the Market Hotel pub in Brackley Street, Farnworth, and had been seen staggering on and off the pavement before the incident.

Proceeding

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