Woman sentenced over crash that killed Darron Coster

Jacqueline Higson’s Vauxhall Corsa collided with Darron Coster’s Ducati in broad daylight on July 14, 2021, on Jack Lane, a stretch of road between Rathmell and Wigglesworth, which is northwest of Skipton.

Mr Coster, from Accrington in Lancashire, was test-riding his dream motorcycle when Higson, who could not see over the crest of a rise, approached him on his side of the undulating single-carriageway road.

The former soldier, an experienced and passionate biker who had been a member of army motorcycle display teams, died after suffering severe injuries in the crash. He was 54.

Mr Coster was described by his widow, Alison, as “my whole world” in a powerful and emotional statement read to Bradford Crown Court.

She said his death had left her “bereft”.

Jacqueline Higson (Image: Danny Lawson/PA)

Prosecutor Harry Crowson said: “This road, poignantly, undulates, in that there are crests and dips in the road. Periodically it means that one cannot see the opposite carriageway.

“Indeed, in the situation between these two vehicles in the direction Ms Higson was travelling, and the site of the impact, was one of these crests.

“Put simply Ms Higson, as she approached this crest, could not see the opposite carriageway and of course Mr Coster was similarly unsighted.”

A forensic collision report determined that the sole cause of the accident was due to Higson being on the wrong side of the road and not being able to see what was coming in the opposite direction.

Higson, a former care worker of Robinson Street, Chatburn, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

Mitigating, John Dye said 65-year-old Higson was “absolutely devastated” and that the incident was on her conscience “on a daily basis”.

He said: “But for that manoeuvre, which was extremely unwise, everything else in terms of her driving that day was sensible.

“Miss Higson made a misjudgement. She shouldn’t have overtaken where she overtook, and she accepts that.”

He said Higson, a woman of previous good character, was “very remorseful”.

Sentencing Higson to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years, His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose said Mr Coster’s death had left “a gaping wound” in the lives of his family and friends.

He said: “You were not unfamiliar with [Jack Lane] and you would have been able to see that visibility was impeded just by the nature of the road.

“Mr Coster’s ability to see you was likewise impeded.

“The outcome was inevitable, and certainly tragic.

“A life has been taken through inadvertence, not by design.”

Darron Coster's widow Alison Coster (right) and Darron Coster's sister in law Tracy Norlund (left) (Image: Danny Lawson/PA)

He banned Higson from driving for two years, ordered her to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work, and to undertake 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Judge Rose said: “These sentences are in no way intended to be, nor could they be, a reflection of the life of Darron Coster.”

A former soldier in the Royal Military Police, Mr Coster had gone to Manchester Arena on the night of the Ariane Grande concert on May 22, 2017, to collect his son and his son’s friends and used his military training to provide first aid support to injured concertgoers.

He used a belt and handbag strap as tourniquets to help victims and was described as “a hero” by the chair of the inquiry into the bombing.