A BAR owner who ran over and killed a 17-year-old girl has been convicted of causing death by careless driving.

A jury found Daniel Chappell guilty of the charge on Thursday afternoon after deliberating for three hours and ten minutes.

Chappell, 37, of Prince Philip Road, Colchester, winced slightly as the verdict was read out by the jury foreman.

The jury at the four-day trial was told Chappell hit Alliyah Bell on Hythe Hill, Colchester, in August 2021 as he drove home from the city centre shortly after 2am.

Peter Clark, prosecuting, said Chappell was driving at 45mph in Magdalen Street in the seconds before the collision, and was travelling at 39.5mph in Hythe Hill when he struck Miss Bell.

She was thrown 25 metres down the road and Chappell was unable to brake in time to prevent his Ford Kuga from running over her.

Emergency services were on the scene minutes later and Miss Bell was taken to Colchester Hospital and then Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, where she died on September 9, 2021.

Chappell, who owns Chappell’s cocktail bar in North Hill, Colchester, told police in interview the road was “completely dark”, and Miss Bell came “running from the left” in the seconds before the incident.

He denied the charge.

Donal Lawler, defending, said Chappell may not have been able to see Miss Bell – who was walking towards Hythe Hill roundabout on the side of the road – because of a taxi’s headlights shining towards him.

Cross-examining Essex Police forensic collision investigator Alan Barlow, Mr Lawler said: “If there’s a car coming towards you, depending on where that car is, that can render an object between the two of you invisible?”

Mr Barlow replied: “It would certainly make it a lot more difficult to see, yes.”

Judge Jamie Sawyer said: “No sentence I can impose can bring Alliyah back.

“I would like a pre-sentence report to decide on the appropriate sentence.

“I will see how long that takes – ordinarily that would be three weeks.”

Chappell is due to be sentenced on October 16.

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