Woman cleared in court after building her own road hump
A WOMAN who built a DIY speed hump outside her cottage to slow down speeding motorists has been cleared of criminal damage.
AndreaWilkinson was charged after driver Amy Leadbetter said the hump caused more than £1,200 of damage to her car when she accidentally drove over it.
Grandmother Ms Wilkinson, 51, whose husband Ian runs a building business, created the hump using drystone wall rocks, following an outcry over speeding traffic near her home.
But Burnley magistrates acquitted her after a witness said Ms Leadbetter had not run over the stones, and an expert challenged the true cost of fixing her car.Blamed
Ms Leadbetter, 25, initially paid £44.96 to have her Audi A1’s steering realigned. But she then spent a further £1,200 on a new turbocharger weeks later, after mechanics claimed it had been wrecked.
The court heard the incident last February followed a series of accidents in Edgworth, near Bolton, that were blamed on speeding drivers.
Ms Leadbeater, 25, said she was driving at around 25mph with her sister in the car, but did not see the hump in Edgworth, near Bolton, until her headlights lit them up.
She told the court: “I tried to take evasive action, but I went over it. I heard a big bang, and my steering wheel was jolted out of my hand.
“The stones were scattered in the road and I realised someone had placed them there intentionally. They were so heavy, me and my sister struggled to move them.”
Ms Leadbetter said Ms Wilkinson, her partner and others then shouted abusive language from a window.
Local farmer Sean Paton told the court he was 30-40 yards behind Ms Leadbetter, while a red car was in front of her.
He said: “The red car looked like it had hit something. It stopped and the next minute Amy’s car slammed to a halt and she then got out and was shouting.
“I saw her moving the stones to the pavement, which were a couple of yards in front of her car. The stones were around 2-3in thick, the size of a brick, but half the thickness.
Required
“The man in the red car got out, looked around it and then drove off.”
Mr Paton said Ms Leadbetter “came to a stop just before the stones and she was making a big deal”.
He added: “I do not see why she should claim for the damage.” Vehicle engineer Adam Hinchcliff, who was called as an expert witness, said: “The car required nothing more than a steering wheel adjustment.
“The stones could not have made contact with the turbo.”
Ms Wilkinson did not give evidence at yesterday’s trial, but apologised for the shouting at an earlier hearing, saying: “I had a lot to drink that night.”
Duncan Nightingale, defending, said Ms Wilkinson accepted the £44.96 damage to Ms Leadbetter’s car, but not the turbocharger bill.
Magistrate Stephen Riley said: “We cannot be sure Ms Leadbeater drove over the stones at this time.”