Driver didn’t see biker

CARELESS driving: Sophie Victoria Gorton

THE words of a grieving widow were read out in court on Friday after a student nurse admitted careless driving the night she fatally knocked a man off his motorbike in Oldham.

Sophie Victoria Gorton (21), of Gullane Close, Manchester, pleaded guilty at Oldham Magistrates Court to causing death by careless driving .

Last July, Gorton was turning at the junction of Shaw Road and Huddersfield Road when she drove her Fiat 500 into Allan Paul Wellings’ Honda motorcycle. Mr Wellings (40) was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital but died later that day.

According to witnesses, Mr Wellings had indicated before turning and also had right of way. Gorton, who has no previous convictions, said she hadn’t seen him.

Mr Wellings’ grieving wife Chelsea Gibson sat at the hearing in distress as the court heard evidence.

In a statement read to the court, she said: “We miss him so much. We will never forget him and he will always be at the forefront of our minds.”

Gorton has been granted unconditional bail until the next hearing on February 20.