Killer driver mowed down uni graduate, 25, after ‘gambling on an amber traffic light’
Glen Wall faces 14 years in jail for causing death by dangerous driving after killing Helena Thurm as she was crossing the road in Greater Manchester
THE distraught dad of a young woman killed in an amber traffic light “gamble” has today appealed to drivers to “think twice” before skipping lights.
IT manager Glen Wall was rushing home in his Vauxhall Astra to make it to a family BBQ but failed to brake as he approached a set of lights turning red in Timperley, Greater Manchester, in the evening rush hour.
He overtook a fellow driver who had stopped at the lights and mowed down Helena Thurm, 25, as she was crossing the road following a job interview. The university graduate was hurled into the air by force of impact, suffering multiple injuries, and died the following day in hospital.
Wall, 35, appeared in shock as he was found guilty of death by dangerous driving at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, facing up to 14 years in prison.
Speaking after the verdict, Helena's dad Alan said “justice had been done” but said their lives were “irreversibly changed” following the tragedy on June 20 last year.
''Helena's death has totally devastated our family and her friends and I only hope that drivers that feel the need to drive dangerously will think twice about the consequences that could result from this sort of behaviour,” said the retired college lecturer, 63.
“This has completely devastated our family and our lives are irreversibly changed. Whatever sentence Glen Wall gets our family have got a life sentence of grief and sorrow and I hope he reflects on this."
Wall was just a mile from home when he undertook another driver before ploughing through the amber light at roadworks at the junction on the A56 Manchester Road near Altrincham.
He been driving at up to 36mph in a lane that had been sign-posted for left hand turns only - yet he continued straight and struck Helena, who believed it had been safe to cross.
Helena, a graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University in public relations and communications, was on her way back from a job interview in fashion retail at the time of the tragic incident.
Her last hours were spent phoning her boyfriend about how the interview went, before she went shopping and had a haircut. She also telephoned her parents about the evening ahead as she headed back to her home in Timperley – what would turn out to be the last conversation they would have with their daughter.
Judge Patrick Field QC adjourned the case until the new year for reports but ordered Wall be given an interim driving ban.
Remanding him on bail, the Judge said: ''The most likely sentence for one of death by dangerous is one of imprisonment and there must be no illusion about that.
''You have now been convicted of a very grave offence and whilst I am going to release you on bail, do not take from that any indication of the likely sentence.”
Prosecuting, Rob Hall said Wall had been in the wrong lane, and Helena could not have known he would drive straight on.
“He went straight across the cross roads and drove straight through, throwing her into the air. This defendant was essentially gambling on an amber light.''
Wall denied wrongdoing during the trial, telling the jury he had not seen any pedestrians around the junction and that he was “extremely close to the lights” when they turned amber.
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''There was absolutely no way I could stop even with an emergency stop,” he claimed, adding that he “completely panicked” when he saw the victim.
“I tried to swerve out of the way and my brain was thinking should I try and stop or get out of the way.
"It was so quick it wasn't even a decision, it was a reaction.”
Wall will be sentenced on January 22.
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