Rebecca Ableman: Trial continues of Kevin Miller, accused of causing death of mum by dangerous driving
A mum was killed while pushing her daughter in a pram because crane equipment had not been secured properly on a lorry, a court has heard.
Rebecca Ableman, 30, was with her two-year-old daughter Autumn when she was struck by a lorry in September 2022.
Kevin Miller, 70, of King's Lynn in Norfolk, denies causing death by dangerous driving and is on trial at Peterborough Crown Court. At the time an eyewitnesses said that Rebecca’s last act was to push Autumn’s pram out of the way so it would not be hit - thus saving her daughter’s life.
The court has heard that if the crane equipment had been secured properly, the incident would not have happened.
Prosecutor William Carter called Keith Silvester, the technical manager of The Association of Lorry Loader Manufacturers and Importers (ALLMI).
Mr Carter asked Mr Silvester: "The boom and grapple [of the crane] had moved over to the lefthand side so the grapple hung over the side of the trailer. Is it your position that if the boom and grapple were strapped down, none of this would have happened?"
Mr Silvester said: "Yes."
Mr Silvester also agreed that the log grapple attachment on Mr Miller's vehicle moved to the left which meant it was not secured or anchored adequately.
Jurors had been told told Mr Miller was transporting scrap metal from King's Lynn docks to two Network Rail depots in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and March, Cambridgeshire on 22 September.
The court was told that the loose unsecured crane equipment moved from its position - and was hanging over the edge of the trailer and the footpath in Willingham.
Ms Ableman had left a farm shop in Station Road with her daughter Autumn when she was struck by the moving lorry just before 11.15am. The NHS healthcare assistant suffered "very serious head and brain injuries", Mr Carter said on day one of the trial.
Ms Ableman died three weeks later on October 16 of traumatic brain injury in the Neuro ICU of Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridgeshire.
Last year, Autumn, now four, started school for the first time as dad Chris said life was 'still hard'.
The courtroom gallery was packed and there were several members of Ms Ableman's family, including Chris.
Jurors were told that Mr Miller claimed he did not know there had been an incident until he was arrested at about 1.45pm.
He said he would have stopped if he had known about the collision and officers heard him say "what's happened mate? I ain't hit no-one", Mr Carter said.
At the time, Chris Tuczemskyi said: “An eyewitness saw that just as the lorry hit Becky [Rebecca] she pushed Autumn out of the way in the pram. Otherwise the pram would have been swept up with the lorry. They then tended to Becky and made sure Autumn couldn't see what was happening.
Chris is continuing to raise funds for the East Anglian Air Ambulance and Neuro ICU, the staff of which had become "like family" in the three weeks the family spent there.
He said: "What happened shows how cruel and horrid life can be. Then when you get strangers, friends and colleagues donating, especially at a time when everyone is trying to save, it means a lot. The Neuro ICU staff were like family, some came to the funeral. When we cried, they cried. They did everything possible to bring Becky back to us."
Chris now intends to keep going to raise as much money as possible and will also be creating a memorial bench in memory of Becky in Willingham Community Orchard.
He said they have never been a family that would ask for money but aims to raise more for a trust fund for Autumn.
On the fundraiser, Chris wrote: "This will be for Autumn for when she’s 18. She will be encouraged to use it to follow in her mummy’s footsteps of travelling around the world, amongst other amazing things. No amount of money could replace the hole Becky’s passing will leave in our beautiful daughter's life, but I hope it can in some way help her feel closer to her mummy."
To donate, go to the GoFundMe page here.