James Williams was riding his black Triumph Bonneville Street motorbike when he struck 90 year-old Maria Ansell as she crossed London Road at around 5pm on 2 April 2019. Williams had begun to slow his motorbike around 10 metres before coming into contact with Maria but the impact through her into 20 metres into the opposing carriageway. Emergency services arrived at the scene but despite the best efforts of paramedics and members of the public, sadly, Maria died. Through their investigations, officers established Williams had been travelling at around 40-50mph in the moments before the collision on a stretch of road which is a 30mph limit. If he had been travelling at the speed limit, the collision would not have happened. He was arrested and later charged and at Basildon Crown Court on 9 November the 25-year-old, of Croft Mead, Chichester, admitted causing death by careless driving. At the same court yesterday (Thursday 7 January) he was sentenced to a three-year community order, ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work, given a curfew between 8pm and 6am for four months, and disqualified from driving for three years.
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