A motorist who had been wiping his windshield fatally ran over an NHS nurse who was crossing the road to see a friend.
Mother-of-two On January 12, last year, Allyson Pattison, 60, was hit by a black Dacia Duster at a zebra crossing in Hull. Winston Hagston, the driver, had leaned down to retrieve a rag to clear his misted-up windshield only seconds before striking her at about 7.15 a.m., according to Hull Crown Court. Even though a car behind him had been blasting his horn to alert him that the nurse had begun to cross the road, he failed to notice her in time to avert a collision.
Hagston, 58, confessed causing her death by negligent driving and was sentenced to ten months in prison today. The butcher was also barred from driving for around two and a half years. Prosecutor Charlotte Baines said that Mrs Pattison had two boys and had raised them on their own since they were children.
Mrs. Pattison had been a nurse for 40 years, having graduated in the early 1980s.
She started working in the endoscopy department at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham around eight years ago, in charge of infection control, but was redeployed to the Covid wards during the epidemic.
‘She worked hard hours but was looking forward to the day she could retire,’ Miss Baines said. Mrs Pattison was crossing a zebra crossing on Hull Road, shortly beyond Inglemire Lane, when she was struck by a vehicle and ‘thrown into the air.’
After seeing Mrs Pattison on the crossing, another motorist behind Hagston kept beeping his horn.
A lady traveling in the other way saw Mrs. Pattison on the pedestrian crossing and suspected Hagston of driving too quickly on the approach to the pedestrian crossing. A loud boom was heard.
According to the court, Hagston informed another motorist, “I didn’t see her crossing the zebra crossing.”
Hagston had already been convicted of three offenses. Mitigating, Tom Gent, said the defendant was “desperately sorry for his sins” and would be “haunted forever” by the murder.
Mrs Pattison’s son, Andrew, said in a devastating statement read in court that his mother “affected so many people’s lives” and will be missed.
‘She was our universe,’ he added. She was a wonderfully cheerful person who would go out of her way to help everyone.’
‘The defendant is someone who doesn’t express emotion readily, yet he is profoundly remorseful for his sins,’ said mitigation attorney Tom Gent. This is something that will torment him for the rest of his life, and he never forgets what happened to Mrs Pattison and her loved ones, whom he has forced to suffer. He is completely accepting of his error and completely repentant about it.’
Mrs Pattison, according to Judge Sophie McKone, was a “devoted and much-loved mother” who raised her boys alone and made many sacrifices.
‘She was devoted to her community,’ she said.
‘I accept that your regret is sincere and genuinely felt,’ the judge told Hagston. I recognize that you have been profoundly impacted.
‘No punishment can lessen her family’s grief. No language can adequately express how meaningful her life was.
‘You should have stopped as soon as your vision was obstructed.’ Prior to the crash, you failed to see Mrs Pattison on that well-lit crossing several yards away. On the approach to the pedestrian crossing, you did not brake adequately or at all, and you did not take any evasive action.’
Hagston remained emotionless as he was brought from the pier to the cells below.