Nicholas Bannister trial hears from experts on crash

Baildon grandmother Judith Wadsworth died aged 66 after being run over by hotel managing director Nicholas Bannister in his Range Rover the night before her daughter’s wedding.

Bannister, 64, of Bell Busk, north-west of Skipton, struck Mrs Wadsworth on a pedestrian walkway at 5.21pm on February 7, 2020 as she returned from the car park to the reception of Coniston Hotel and Spa, at Coniston Cold where her daughter and maid-of-honour were.

He ran over her and only stopped 20 metres later because he heard a noise under his car.

A map of Coniston Hotel and Spa with key locations pointed out (Image: Google Maps)

Bannister is on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of causing death by careless driving, a charge he denies.

The court heard evidence from two experts from either side – the prosecution and defence – with the focus on the concept of “conspicuity”.

That is, how easily something can be seen in different circumstances.

The court heard Mrs Wadsworth was wearing black trousers and a cream-coloured jacket at the time.

Judith Wadsworth, who died aged 66 after being struck by a Range Rover (Image: North Yorkshire Police)

It is agreed she was partially obscured by a wooden post and a small post on the car park at the road edge when Bannister turned at the t-junction to get to the hotel’s access road.

The defence furthered the impact of this on Bannister being able to see Mrs Wadsworth by suggesting today her trousers were blocked out by the post, while her jacket would have blended in with the gravel near the walkway and Bannister’s cream-coloured A-pillar in the Range Rover, which is the main support between the windscreen and driver’s side window.

Professor Graham Edgar, defence conspicuity expert, told the court this would have affected the sensory conspicuity.

He said: “If you have something in the scene that is cream and something else in the scene that is cream, that would lower the sensory conspicuity of both."

The professor added: “Effectively it's a form of camouflage.”

But ergonomics expert Dr David Usher, for the prosecution, said Mrs Wadsworth would have been “highly conspicuous” to Bannister and “visible” as she approached the walkway, and this would have grown as the two came closer together.

He accepted the A-pillar of the car “might briefly” have obscured the view of Mrs Wadsworth as Bannister turned but that a driver “would shift one’s head slightly to negate that problem”.

Dr Usher said: “If he felt that part of his view that was not visible, or able to him, then he should have moved his head, it's a natural part of driving to me.”

Bannister’s car would have been “highly visible” to Mrs Wadsworth, because it had its lights on and was a large vehicle, among other factors, the court heard.

Michael Smith, for the prosecution, when cross-examining Professor Edgar said: “I'm going to suggest he [Bannister] wasn't paying proper attention to where he was going.”

The trial continues.