A driver has been found guilty of causing death by careless driving after killing a Take That fan while she walked to a concert.
Fiona Hodge, 69, denied responsibility for the death of Donna Crossman, 53, who was hit by her Citroen C1 car in June 2024 as she walked to Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium.
Hodge, from Bristol, told Bristol Crown Court that she had ‘no recollection’ of the moments leading up to the crash.
The driver has since been formally diagnosed with epilepsy by neurologists.
Following more than six hours of deliberation on Monday, a jury found Hodge guilty of causing death by careless driving, and she is set to be sentenced at a later date.
Judge Peter Blair KC said: ‘It was an enormously sad and tragic case for everyone involved.’
Adam Vaitilingham KC, prosecuting, previously told the court that Crossman, from Wales, had been walking across Brunel Way on the way to the stadium on June 9 with two friends.
Hodge’s red car then mounted the pavement, narrowly missing the two friends, before hitting Crossman and knocking her over the railing and onto the BMX pump track beneath the flyover.
Crossman died as a result of her ‘catastrophic injuries’, jurors were told.
Her family arrived in Bristol at around 10:30pm BST, and Crossman died at about midnight.
The court heard Hodge tested negative for drink and drugs in the aftermath of the crash.
The jury was told that after the crash, police interviewed Hodge at the scene, where she said she ‘can’t account for what happened’ and had ‘lost her concentration’.
Vaitilingham said: ‘She was asked if she thought she had a medical condition and she replied that she didn’t, she was asked if she thought she had experienced a medical episode and she replied “no”, and she was asked if she lost consciousness and she replied “no”.’
Donna’s father, Steve Price, previously described his daughter, who served for more than two decades in the RAF, as ‘perfect’ and ‘adventurous’.
He said: ‘She was wonderful, so caring, so loving… I know everybody says that about their kids, but she really was.
‘She had a good life, she put a lot in, but she had so much more to give.
‘Her circle of friends is massive, and it’s affecting everyone.’
Ian Bridge, defending, previously told the court it is ‘likely that this collision happened because she [Hodge] was suffering from an undiagnosed condition called epilepsy’.
Before the crash took place, Hodge had ‘never had a seizure before,’ Vaitilingham added.
The court was told Hodge had suffered several ‘weird’ episodes linked to undiagnosed epilepsy before the crash.
She told the jury she had ‘no recollection’ of the moments leading up to it.
When giving her evidence, Hodge told the court: ‘I do recall an incredible jolt… I was then in a sudden, extremely rapid sense of consequences… I was on the kerb… and in front of me were three women.’
She then told friends in the car: ‘I think I may have killed someone.’
