PETTS WOOD: Teenager 'grabbed wheel' to cause fatal Mini crash (From News Shopper)

PETTS WOOD: Teenager 'grabbed wheel' to cause fatal Mini crash

12:50pm Monday 7th September 2009 in News By Robert Fisk

JURORS in the trial of a 17-year-old girl accused of manslaughter after a fatal car crash in Petts Wood heard the prosecution’s opening argument this morning (September 7).

The Old Bailey heard the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of six passengers in Lee Waite’s Mini when she grabbed the steering wheel and caused it to crash into a tree and then a wall in Southborough Lane.

Mr Waite, 21, died at the scene in the early hours of February 10 last year.

An ambulance technician was driving home from work at the time of the crash and estimates Mr Waite’s car was being driven at around 50 miles per hour.

Sarah Whitehouse, for the prosecution, told the court the defendant was sitting on the lap of Richard Rutter, who is now 20, in the front passenger seat at the time of the collision.

Mr Waite, of Narrow Way, Bromley Common, was driving back from a petrol station after buying cigarettes when his car swerved off the road.

Two of the vehicle’s passengers say they saw the defendant grab the steering wheel and pull it to the left.

Mrs Whitehouse said: “He [Lee] wasn’t swerving around and it was a bright, clear, dry night.

“There was no frost and no ice and yet his car swerved off the road and hit a tree.

“When the car hit the tree the impact was so great it caused the engine to come out of the car.

“It was clearly the case that he [Lee] had been drinking and he was above the speed limit.

“On the other hand there was no sign that he was driving erratically.”

She added: “The prosecution case is that in this crash the two passengers are correct when they say that the crash was caused by the defendant yanking the wheel round to the left.”

When questioned by police about the incident, the defendant gave a prepared statement in which she said she did not grab the steering wheel and was shocked at the suggestion.

The case continues.