A nurse has had her driving ban cut from a year to three months.

Magistrates had banned Lynda Collins after an accident on the A120 at Birchanger Green which led to the death of bridesmaid Ngakin Chuong on August 28 this year.

Miss Chuong, 23, had been a bridesmaid at her sister's wedding in Dunmow that day, the appeal at Chelmsford Crown Court heard on Friday.

Collins, 53, from Danbury Rise, Danbury, was also fined £1,000 after admitting careless driving.

On the day of the accident, as Collins reached Start Hill, Birchanger Green, near Stansted, her Volvo drifted across the road and collided with Miss Chuong's oncoming Ford Escort, the appeal heard.

Collins told police after the accident: "I was driving up the road. I must have had my eyes shut for a moment. The next thing I knew, I was on the wrong side of the road. It's been such a long day."

Nigel Lithman QC, representing Collins, said she did not believe she fell asleep. The accident was caused by "momentary inadvertance".

Collins was a neo-natal nurse at St John's Hospital in Chelmsford, and was a mature, kind and sensitive woman who felt great remorse over the accident, he said.

Her appeal against the length of the ban was on the grounds of extreme hardship. She did the shopping for her elderly parents. Her father was in a wheelchair and her mother had a heart attack three weeks ago, Mr Lithman added.

Recorder John Akast, sitting with two magistrates, said it was a "tragic case" but the court was of the view the accident had been caused by Collins' "momentary inattention".

A ban was proper, he said, but the right length was three months.

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