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Texting death crash woman jailed

11 February 2009

A motorist who sent and received more than 20 text messages before she crashed into another car killing its driver has been jailed for 21 months and banned from driving for three years.

In sentencing Philippa Curtis (21), from Bury St Edmunds, Judge Julian Hall presiding at Oxford Crown Court said: “I want to get across to people of your generation that driving is a skill which needs 100% concentration and to use a mobile phone while driving is folly. The message I want to give out is to use a mobile phone is madness.”

Curtis was texting before she hit the back of a stationary car at 70 mph on the A40 near Wheatley in Oxfordshire.

Victoria McBryde (24), from Northamptonshire, who was dealing with a burst tyre, was killed in the crash in November 2007.

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