Widow’s fury at driver with sleep disorder who killed her husband
A GRIEVING widow has told the driver who killed her cyclist husband after ignoring medical advice not to get behind the wheel that he should be ashamed.
Katy Charlton confronted neil Urwin, who suffers from sleep apnoea, in court as he was jailed for two years for killing her husband Andrew by dangerous driving.
Urwin, 56, ploughed into 43-year-old cyclist Mr Charlton, a father of three, while trying to overtake him on a country road.
Just one day before the crash, Urwin had been warned not to drive by doctors who were monitoring his sleep disorder, which wakes sufferers up repeatedly during the night and can leave them feeling exhausted.
Mrs Charlton delivered an emotional victim statement, facing Urwin directly as she said: ‘You had been advised not to drive. Shame on you. If you had followed their advice Andrew would still be alive.
‘You will always be the one that suffered least. Any punishment is nothing compared to our family’s loss.’
Mrs Charlton added that her family life had been ‘ shattered’. She told how her husband had given up his job in a fishing shop to care for their son oscar, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.
newcastle Crown Court also heard that the crash in northumberland last August happened when the Charltons’ twin daughters eleanor and Chloe were just ten weeks old.
In her speech, Mrs Charlton, of north Shields, Tyne and Wear, said she had broken the news to oscar, then two, but has still not told the twins of their father’s death.
‘They think it’s normal to just have a mummy,’ she said. ‘They have had one of the most important people in their lives taken.
‘A lifetime of fun, support and guidance has been snatched away. I miss Andrew every day.’ Jurors found Urwin guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
Judge John Milford QC said Urwin had misjudged his overtaking manoeuvre, but said that jurors did not accept sleep apnoea as the main cause of death by dangerous driving. The prosecution had claimed he had been so tired he did not see Mr Charlton until the last minute.
Urwin, of Barrasford, northumberland, had been treated for obstructive sleep apnoea some years before and it allegedly returned last year.
he visited his GP last May complaining he was constantly tired. The day before the crash, a specialist told him he should not drive due to tiredness caused by his illness.
he ignored the advice and went fishing early the next morning. he was on his way back in his Ford Fiesta when he hit Mr Charlton.
richard Bennett, prosecuting, had said the stretch of road gave Urwin a 327-yard unrestricted view before the collision.
Mrs Charlton questioned why Urwin ignored the advice not to drive, but said she had ‘forgiven him’, adding: ‘I like to imagine you are a decent man who has made a foolish decision, a decision you will live with for the rest of your life.
‘There are no winners in this. I just hope some good can come from this and lessons can be learned by others to prevent more tragic accidents.’