Driver in court over death crash
Defendant facing six charges is given bail
A man accused of causing the death of a 63-year-old while over the drink-drive limit, uninsured and without a licence has been bailed.
Kevin Moore was charged with six offences following the death of Andrew Brain on the A229 between Linton and Staplehurst in January.
He entered no pleas when he appeared at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday and was bailed on condition he surrenders his passport to police.
He is next due to appear at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday, November 1, when he is expected to enter pleas.
The 45-year-old, of Couchman Green Lane, Staplehurst, faces charges of causing death by dan- gerous driving, causing death while over the alcohol limit, driving while uninsured and unlicensed and causing death while uninsured and unlicensed.
Moore’s Land Rover Discovery collided with Mr Brain’s blue Volkswagen Golf near the B2079 Maidstone Road junction, just past The Stile Bridge pub, at around 5pm on January 4.
Police closed the busy route for six hours following the collision.
Mr Brain, of Maidstone Road, Marden, was taken to a hospital in London with life-threatening injuries, but died the following day.
Moore, who was also injured and taken to a local hospital, was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and later bailed.
An inquest into Mr Brain’s death was suspended in April pending criminal proceedings.
Last month German lorry driver Enreco Ruhm was jailed for 14 months after causing lifechanging injuries to Robert Gooch by dangerous driving on the same stretch by Millbrook Garden Centre, just two weeks before Mr Brain’s death.
Less than a month later a man escaped with minor injuries after he was trapped in his overturned car at the same spot.
In 2014 Staplehurst motorcyclist Christopher Worthington was killed when a van attempted to turn into Maidstone Road and crossed his path.