Woman 'should have known of car load danger'

Liza Brothers was charged by police after the bed fell into the path of other cars as she was on her way to a council tip. Another motorist, Helen Denton, swerved to avoid the debris and was killed when she lost control of her car.

A jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard that Brothers, 41, had already made one trip to the household waste site in her Vauxhall Vectra estate earlier that day, when she and her aunt Diane Foxton had dropped off the bed's mattress.

They had then returned to pick up the bed base, which Brothers and a neighbour tied to the car's roof using a piece of old washing line which she found in the garden. After checking it was tight they set off for the tip again.

But Miss Foxton told the court that as they were driving along the A61 Westwood New Road, at High Green north of Sheffield, she heard a "whoosh" noise as the load slid from the roof of the car and into the road behind them.

She said they had been heading for the tip at nearby Greaves Lane and added: "When we were nearly there we heard a whoosh noise.

"We thought: 'Oh no, surely the base hasn't just gone. We carried on up. We knew we had to check.

"We went up to Greaves Lane and checked that yes, it had gone."

Miss Foxton said Brothers had checked the bed base "thoroughly to make sure it wouldn't move and pulled it very tight".

She added: "She was double checking it, "She was pushing the base and making sure it wouldn't move and making sure all the ties were well secured."

But the court was told that the load worked loose and fell into the road.

It ended up in the path of a blue Peugeot which was being driven by the 41-year-old victim Miss Denton, of Walders Avenue, Hillsborough, Sheffield.

The jury heard that Miss Denton swerved to avoid the bed, lost control and was killed instantly when her car was in collision with another vehicle.

Yesterday, the court was told that the 2001 model Vauxhall Vectra estate being driven by Brothers at the time of the accident in December last year contained an owners' manual which warned about the dangers of carrying loads on the roof.

Malcolm Tearle, Vauxhall's assistant manager of product evaluation, gave evidence about the instructions to owners and said roof rails were fitted as standard to the Vectra but loads should not be carried without a roof rack.

He said: "There are clear instructions that if you are going to carry any loads, you must buy a roof rack to attach to the roof rails to carry any luggage or equipment or whatever. Basically the roof rack must be used.

"There is nowhere to put any equipment because the equipment would be resting on the roof panel itself so could not be supported. We would only advise the use of the roof rails in conjunction with a roof rack."

Earlier in the trial Corinne Wilson, prosecuting, said: "When you think of dangerous driving you might think of programmes on television where drivers are being pursued by police down the highway, weaving in and out of traffic.

"This is not one of those cases. This is another arm of dangerous driving, and relates to the dangerous condition of a vehicle."

Miss Wilson said the jury would hear evidence from witnesses who saw Miss Denton crash and from experts who found the washing line was "badly degraded" when it was used to secure the bed.

Brothers, of School Lane, Grenoside, Sheffield, denies causing Miss Denton's death by dangerous driving. The trial continues.