A WOMAN has been jailed for killing a baby girl in a horror crash after smashing into her pram outside a hospital.
Mabli Cariad Hall was struck by the car at Withybush Hospital in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in June last year.
PAMabli Cariad Hall was killed a horror crash[/caption]
AthenaBridget Curtis admitted causing death by dangerous driving[/caption]
The eight-month-old was airlifted to Bristol Children’s Hospital but tragically couldn’t be saved and died four days later.
Bridget Curtis, 70, has now been jailed for four years after admitting a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
Swansea Crown Court heard the horror unfolded at around 11.50am on June 21 after a BMW crashed into Mabli and another pedestrian.
Curtis’ daughter was struggling to find her handbag in the rear of the vehicle with Curtis unlocking the door and turning round to assist her.
As she did so, Curtis pressed the accelerator of the automatic car – which had been left running and was not in park mode – “right to the ground”, the judge said.
The vehicle propelled forward, reaching speeds of more than 29mph as it travelled just 28 metres – mounting the kerb of a grass seating area and hitting the pushchair of Mabli.
Mabli had just said a final goodbye to her paternal grandmother Betty Hall who was receiving end-of-life care at the hospital.
She was taken to the hospital’s accident and emergency department before being airlifted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, then transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital.
The baby, who was in her pram at the time of the horror, tragically passed away on June 25 in the arms of her parents Rob and Gwen Hall.
A cause of death was previously given as severe traumatic brain injuries.
Curtis was treated in hospital for serious but non-life threatening injuries along with a passenger in the car.#
Curtis, who had a clean driving licence, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving.
A second pedestrian struck by the BMW was also taken to hospital but later discharged.
Dashcam footage from another vehicle at the hospital showed Curtis’ car appearing to lift off the ground before colliding with Mabli’s family and her pushchair, then coming to a stop when it hit a tree.
Mr and Mrs Hall stood together in the witness box of the courtroom as they gave harrowing statements about Mabli’s death and the impact of their loss.
Mr Hall, who had been placing Mabli back into her pushchair at the time of the collision, described how Curtis had “literally ripped my baby out of my arms”.
“I remember Mabli smiling at me, making her cute noises as I was about to take her for a walk,” Mr Hall said.
Mrs Hall told how Mabli had been sitting in her pushchair away from the road playing with her family when she was fatally injured.
“All that we have been through was avoidable,” she said.
“I finished my maternity leave without my baby. In four seconds, I went from a Mum who took care of my Mabli all day and night, to not having her at all.”
Mrs Hall said Mabli would not go to school, to marry or to have her own family as this had been “stolen from her by Bridget Curtis”.
“She was so bright, so beautiful, so full of love and life,” she told the court.
“She was my best friend, my shadow, my second skin. All she ever gave and all she ever had was love.”
Judge Geraint Walters disqualified Curtis from driving for eight years and sentenced her to four years in prison describing her actions as “grossly reckless”.
WNSThe baby was in her pram when she was struck[/caption]
She tragically died four days laterPA
The BMW hit Mabli and another pedestrian Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
