Driver’s guilty plea to causing death of cyclist
FORMER SCHOOL HEAD DIED TWO DAYS AFTER COLLISION
A DRIVER has admitted causing the death of a former headteacher by knocking him off his pedal bike.
Steven Armstrong, 64, was behind the wheel of a Skoda Fabia when he crashed into Michael Thompson on Billy Mill Avenue, North Shields.
Mr Thompson suffered serious head injuries as a result of the collision, which happened on April 8 last year, and died two days later in Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.
At Newcastle Crown Court, Armstrong, of Tudor Avenue, North Shields, who appeared via video link from his home, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.
Judge Robert Adams adjourned sentence until June 3 and ordered pre-sentence reports. The judge told him: “You can have bail on the same terms as before. I’m giving no indication of sentence. All options will be open to the court on the next occasion.”
The judge did not impose an interim driving ban after hearing Armstrong was a carer for an elderly relative, but he was warned he is likely to be disqualified when he is sentenced.
Mr Thompson, who was a headteacher in Hexham, Northumberland, was struck at a junction and knocked to the ground.
Emergency services, including the Great North Air Ambulance, attended the scene of the collision at around 9.40am on April 8 last year. The road was closed for several hours while investigations took place.
A PROJECT to return native oysters to the UK in a bid to improve the health of coastal waters will start thousands of the shellfish growing beneath harbour pontoons – starting in the North East.
Ecologists consider oysters to be “ocean superheroes” for their ability to filter sediment, nitrates and other pollutants from the seas.
Nitrate-based fertilisers can end up in the sea as a result of run-off from farm land or sewage spills, causing algal blooms that deprive the water of vital oxygen.
A mature oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, but native oysters are on the brink of extinction, with numbers declining 95% since the 1800s.
Around 4,000 mature oysters will be installed in six harbours across the North East of England, Wales and Scotland as part of the Wild Oyster Project.
Launched by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Blue Marine Foundation (Blue) and trade association British Marine, it is hoped the oyster beds will become the “maternity ward” to the next generation of shellfish.
The project received a £1.2m grant from the People’s Postcode Lottery’s Dream Trust.
So far, 47 nurseries with 1,300 oysters have been installed underpontoons in Sunderland Marina and Port of Blyth.
The mature oysters should begin reproducing over the spring and summer, releasing millions of larvae into the ocean that will eventually settle on rocks and other hard structures and begin to grow.
As well as the North East, oysters will be placed in the River Conwy in Wales, and the Firth of Clyde in Scotland.
The nurseries are also intended to act as an outdoor classroom for schools and communities, and will be stewarded by local project officers.
James Scott-Anderson, environment executive of British Marine, said: “It is essential that we allow nature the space to recover and grow once again.
“Using marinas to house oyster nurseries is an innovative use of the space we have available.”
Blue’s senior UK projects manager Morven Robertson said: “The Wild Oysters project will give the marine environment a chance to recover, which is not only important for nature and climate, but also the people that rely on it.”