Driver stung on leg by wasp is cleared of blame in death crash
A MOTHER of three who killed an elderly woman after a wasp sting caused her to lose control of her vehicle has been cleared of blame after a two-year ordeal.
Helen Shaw, 40, insisted she could not stop her car veering head-on into Rosina Ingram’s after the pain and shock of the sting to her leg.
But prosecutors decided to charge her with causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving.
Helen has had the impending trial hanging over her with the prospect of up to five years in jail if she was convicted at Teesside Crown Court.
The case was due to be heard on Monday but prosecutors have only now revealed they don’t intend to pursue the charge.
Helen, a dog breeder from Yarm, told how her family had been hit with more than £8,000 in legal fees as she endured the horror of finding herself in the dock. She said: “I don’t know why the case had to go to court.
“I provided evidence straight away that I’d been stung by a wasp. There was a picture on my phone and my hospital records which showed I’d been given antihistamines for the sting. To find myself in a court facing a potential
jail sentence was frightening. So much goes through your mind. What will happen to my kids if I go to jail? It’s been the worst time of my life.” Helen was returning home with her daughter and her daughter’s friend in the car when the accident happened. She said: “I was aware of a pain at the back of my leg at the top of my calf and looked down to see a wasp crawling up my leg.
“It took a matter of seconds but when I looked up the other car was in front of me and I hit the brakes but couldn’t stop. I broke my ankle. It was devastating to be told the lady in the other car had died.”
Helen was placed under investigation after the crash involving her grey Seat Leon, a red Nissan Note and an Audi Q7 a in July 2019 near Kirklevington. Mrs Ingram, 85, a retired carer from Stockton, had been a passenger in the Nissan and died later from chest and abdominal injuries.