A 25-year-old woman has been jailed for six years for causing death by dangerous driving. Charley Little was driving a Vauxhall Astra on the M32 motorway in the early hours of 30 August 2021 when the car left the carriageway, launched from an embankment at 83mph and landed in a drainage ditch between junction one (Hambrook) and junction two (Eastville).
Bristol Crown Court heard Tenisha Cooper, 23, was in the front passenger seat and died instantly. Witnesses testified that Little had been holding her phone in front of her face and driving erratically before the crash, including drifting onto the hard shoulder and back onto the carriageway several times.
Subsequent investigations showed Little was travelling at around 83 mph when the car left the road and was two-and-a-half times over the legal drink drive limit. Little, of Haworth Close, Quedgeley, held only a provisional licence, was not displaying ‘L’ plates on the vehicle, and had no one in the car qualified to supervise her.
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Barrister James Ward, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Forensic examination of Charley Little’s phone confirmed eyewitness accounts that she was on a call when the vehicle left the carriageway. Little was also two-and-a-half times over the legal drink drive limit and swerving across the motorway.
"These three factors were key in charging her with death by dangerous driving. Little initially claimed not to be driving and attempted to blame the death of her friend on the emergency services and then on Tenisha Cooper herself for causing the crash.
"Thanks to a detailed police investigation the CPS was able to build a compelling case which resulted in a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity. Our thoughts remain with Tenisha’s family, including her young son, at this difficult time.”
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