Driver who killed NHS nurse at crossing is jailed for 10 months

Driver who killed mother-of-two nurse, 60, on a pedestrian crossing as he tried to wipe his misted windscreen is jailed for 10 months

• Mother-of-two Allyson Pattison, 60, was run over during third Covid lockdown
• She had bravely treated Covid-19 patients during the pandemic
• Her killer Winston Hagston had tried to wipe his misted windscreen
• The driver, 58, was jailed for 10 months and banned from roads for 2½ years

An NHS nurse who bravely treated Covid-19 patients during the much-hated pandemic was tragically run over while crossing the road to meet a friend – as her killer is jailed for 10 months.

Mother-of-two Allyson Pattison, 60, was knocked down by a black Dacia Duster at a zebra crossing in Hull on January 12 last year – around a week after Boris Johnson imposed the third national lockdown.

The driver, Winston Hagston, had reached down to grab a cloth to clean his misted-up windscreen just seconds before hitting her at about 7.15am, Hull Crown Court heard.

He failed to see her in time to avoid a collision, even though a driver behind him had been beeping his horn to warn him that the nurse had started to cross the road.

Hagston, 58, admitted causing her death by careless driving and was today jailed for 10 months. The professional butcher was also banned from driving for around 2½ years.

Mother-of-two Allyson Pattison, 60, was knocked down by a black Dacia Duster at a zebra crossing in Hull on January 12 last year

The driver, Winston Hagston, had reached down to grab a cloth to clean his misted-up windscreen just seconds before hitting her at about 7.15am, Hull Crown Court heard

Charlotte Baines, prosecuting, said Mrs Pattison had two sons and had raised them on their own since they were little.

Mrs Pattison had been in the nursing profession for 40 years and trained in the early 1980s. 

About eight years ago, she began working at Castle Hill Hospital, Cottingham, in the endoscopy department, in charge of infection control, but was redeployed to the Covid wards during the pandemic.

‘She worked long hours but was looking forward to the time that she could eventually retire,’ said Miss Baines. 

Mrs Pattison was walking across a zebra crossing in Hull Road, just after Inglemire Lane, when she was hit by the car and ‘thrown into the air’.

Another driver behind Hagston continuously beeped his horn after spotting Mrs Pattison on the crossing.

A woman driving in the opposite direction also saw Mrs Pattison on the pedestrian crossing and believed that Hagston was driving too fast on the approach to the pedestrian crossing. She heard a loud bang.

Hagston told another driver: ‘I didn’t see her crossing the zebra crossing’, the court heard.

The nurse was run over at the zebra crossing (circled) on Hull Road

Hagston had convictions for three previous offences. Tom Gent, mitigating, said the defendant was ‘desperately sorry for his mistakes’ and will be ‘haunted forever’ by the killing.

In a heartbreaking statement read in court, Mrs Pattison’s son, Andrew, said that his mother ‘touched so many people’s lives’ and would be missed. 

He said: ‘To us, she was our world. She was a completely positive person who would do anything for anyone.’

Tom Gent, mitigating, said: ‘The defendant is someone who doesn’t show emotion easily but he is desperately sorry for his mistakes. This is something that will haunt him forever and there is not a day that goes by that he doesn’t think of what happened to Mrs Pattison and her loved ones that he has caused to suffer. He is utterly accepting of his mistake and utterly remorseful about it.’

Judge Sophie McKone told the court that Mrs Pattison was a ‘devoted and much-loved mother’ who brought up her sons single-handedly and made many sacrifices. 

‘She dedicated herself to her community,’ she added.

The judge told Hagston: ‘I accept that your remorse is genuine and deeply felt. I accept you have been significantly affected. 

‘No sentence can ease the pain of her family. No sentence can demonstrate how invaluable her life was.

‘As soon as your view became impeded, you should have stopped. You failed to see Mrs Pattison on that well-lit crossing many metres away prior to the collision. You did not brake sufficiently or at all on the approach to the pedestrian crossing and you did not take any evasive action.’

Hagston showed no emotion as he was led out of the dock to the cells downstairs.

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