Death-crash family in warning on speeding as driver locked up

Robert Turnbull, 19, from Wrelton, near Pickering, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years for causing death by dangerous driving following a high-speed crash on the A170 between Scarborough and Pickering on January 8, which killed passenger Natalia Wiley.

Turnbull, who pleaded guilty to the charge at an earlier hearing at York Crown Court last month, also received a seven-year driving ban.

In a moving statement following the sentencing, Natalia’s family said: “Where do we start? The phone call telling us Natalia had been involved in an accident? The policeman telling us she had been killed? Having to arrange Natalia’s funeral? How do you choose a coffin?

“Waiting what seems like an eternity to find out what actually happened? Sitting through a court case hearing all the painful facts? This is only a minuscule piece of what we have been through since Natalia’s untimely passing.

“A gap has been left in all the lives of Natalia’s family and friends that can never be filled, no matter how much time passes.

“We have been reliably informed that had the speed limit been adhered to then this collision would probably never happened.

“The fact is, speed kills. So if you want to do anything in the memory of a beautiful, happy caring young woman, please drive carefully and stick within the speed limits.

“Natalia, you will be missed so much by so many forever. Love you princess.”

Turnbull had been driving dangerously at speeds of up to 80mph when he lost control and his car overturned with Natalia in the front passenger seat.

Natalia, a pupil at Lady Lumley’s School, in Pickering, died instantly of head injuries.

Handing out the sentence to a tearful Turnbull, Judge Stephen Ashurst, the Recorder of York, said it was a case of competitive and aggressive driving. He described the death of Natalia as “totally unnecessary”.

Traffic Sergeant Neil Campbell, from North Yorkshire Police’s roads policing group, said: “The bottom line is there has been a massive gap left in Natalia’s family which can never be filled and there is no sentence that any court can give which will ease the pain and suffering that her family is going through and will go through for the rest of their lives.

“I hope it sends a wake-up call to dangerous and speeding drivers and that they fully understand the grief and devastation that their actions can cause.”

Last week Daniel Jeminson, 21, walked free from court after being accused of causing the death of the Pickering school girl.

Jeminson, of Kirkbymoorside, was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving at York Crown Court on Friday after a jury of nine men and three women took less than two hours to reach a unanimous verdict following a five-day trial.

The groundsman for Kirbymoorside cricket club had been accused of racing Turnbull near Snainton, when Turnbull careered out of control and his Vauxhall Corsa flipped over as tried to edge in front of Jeminson’s white Ford Fiesta ST.

However, throughout the trial Jeminson maintained he had not been racing and it was Turnbull who had caused the crash.