A driver who killed his passenger - who was due to study social care at the University of Nottingham - caused a "lifetime of pain" in just a split second, a court heard. Matthew Ellson, 20, was behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Corsa when he "took his eye off the road", causing the car to collide with a lorry parked in a layby at around 12.30am on June 13, 2020, reports Cheshire Live.
Francesca Bugliarello, known as Frankie, was a passenger in the back of the car and died at the scene at Haslington Bypass, between Sandbach and Crewe. The 18-year-old, from Sandbach, had secured a place to study at the University of Nottingham.
Also travelling in the vehicle was Caitlin Shorrock, who sustained serious injuries to her arm, and Ellson's girlfriend at the time, Layla Grice, who he went on to falsely claim grabbed the steering wheel and "pulled it towards the lorry" resulting in her being arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. Ellson, of Church Lane, Wistaton, near Crewe, finally admitted causing death by careless driving last month.
