Dangerous driver was using phone before fatal crash with care worker in Chesterfield

A dangerous driver who killed a grandmother after failing to see a red light while using his mobile phone to search for music has been jailed.

Angus Goodchild, 25, collided with Ann McTighe as she used a pedestrian crossing on the A61 Derby Road, Chesterfield, at around 2.20pm on 6 January, 2021.

Mrs McTighe, 60, was on her way home from her job in a care home when the incident happened. She was rushed to hospital and died a short time later, having suffered a fractured skull and multiple other injuries.

Goodchild said he did not see the traffic light turn red or notice Mrs McTighe, Derby Crown Court heard.

The court heard he had been using his mobile phone to search for a song shortly before the collision and had sent a number of messages and listened to music on his journey.

He also said he had run out of screen wash, which had made his visibility worse.

In a victim impact statement, Mrs McTighe's husband said in court: "I have lost my wife and my soulmate and life for me will never be the same again."

Her daughter, Claire, said: "Growing up I was my mum's shadow, she was my best friend, my world, she had a heart of gold.

"No one should ever be put in this position. How do you come home and say to your six-year-old daughter 'granny will never be coming back'?"

Goodchild is estimated to have been travelling between 33mph and 38mph at the time of the crash in a 30mph zone.

Gerald Cullen, mitigating, said Goodchild had thought about the consequences of his dangerous driving every day since it happened.

He read out a letter written by Goodchild intended for the victim's family which said: "I can only imagine the pain and turmoil I have caused the family of Mrs McTighe due to my poor decisions that day.

"I am writing this letter to express the remorse and shame I feel and I am aware of how catastrophic the results of my actions on that day were."

Goodchild, of Nottingham Road in Belper, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years.

He has also been disqualified from driving for nine years.

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