10:30am Wednesday 8th September 2010
By Bruce Unwin
A TEENAGE driver was warned to expect jail after he admitted responsibility for the death of a passenger in a road accident.
Hayley Durston, 17, died in the tragedy on August 2, last year.
VICTIM: Hayley Durston
Hayley, of Benbow Walk, Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, was the front-seat passenger in a Rover 25 saloon driven by Saddat Abdul- Hakim.
The car left the A689 in Bridge Street, Howden-le- Wear, County Durham, went through a fence, over a stream and came to rest in trees, shortly before midnight.
Hayley, who suffered head injuries, was pronounced dead a short time after arrival at hospital in Durham City.
A rear seat passenger, a 16- year-old male from Stanhope, County Durham, suffered whiplash injuries, while Abdul-Hakim suffered a broken arm in the accident.
Abdul-Hakim, 19, of Rose Terrace, Stanhope, was subsequently charged with causing Hayley’s death by dangerous driving. During a short plea hearing at Durham Crown Court yesterday, he admitted the charge.
His barrister, Peter Makepeace, submitted a four-point basis of plea to the court.
Abdul-Hakim was bailed to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
Judge Howard Crowson agreed to the preparation of a probation report on Abdul- Hakim.
But he warned him: “In granting you bail for the report to be drawn up, I am obliged to say that for the type of offence you have admitted, in my mind at least, an inevitability is that it carries a sentence of custody.”
An interim motoring ban was also imposed on Abdul- Hakim, the length of which will be confirmed when he is sentenced. The court heard he is already the subject of an 18- month driving ban for a previous motoring offence imposed in April.
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