A young delivery driver who was speeding at 60mph in a 40mph zone while ferrying a takeaway has admitted causing the death of a pedestrian out walking with his girlfriend.
Rosie Hanson, 21, struck 27-year-old Ryan Phillips in her VW Golf as he made his way along Marine Parade in Sheerness on the evening of 17 January 2024. Mr Phillips was hit close to the entrance of Barton’s Point Coastal Park on the Isle of Sheppey and died at the scene.
Appearing at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday, Hanson, of Mimosa Avenue in Minster, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving. She also admitted a second charge of causing death while uninsured. According to KentOnline, which reported from the hearing, the defendant had previously entered a not guilty plea in December.
The court was told that Hanson held a motor insurance policy at the time of the collision, but that the cover may not have extended to deliveries of takeaway food. Her barrister, Allan Goh, raised the issue of the policy’s terms in mitigation, while also reiterating his client’s account that she had been “startled” by an animal in the road.
That explanation was given short shrift by the prosecution. Tom Nicholson, prosecuting, said the question of whether an animal had been involved was “perhaps of less consequence” once the speed of Hanson’s vehicle was taken into account. Hanson, he told the court, had been driving 20mph above the limit before she “lost control so grossly” and ploughed into Mr Phillips.
Members of Mr Phillips’ family were present in court for the brief hearing. A tribute on a GoFundMe page set up after the tragedy described him as a “kind, loving and caring young man,” adding: “He had a bright future ahead of him, he was going places, the world was his oyster.”
The stretch of Marine Parade where the collision happened has long been a source of concern locally. Following the fatal crash and a wider pattern of serious incidents, the speed limit on a 377-metre section of the road, beginning outside the Catamaran Yacht Club, has since been reduced from 40mph to 30mph.
Hanson was released on bail and made subject to an interim driving ban. Judge Oliver Saxby KC adjourned the case until 2 July, when she will return to the same court to be sentenced. The judge urged the defendant to engage fully with probation officers as they prepare a pre-sentence report on her behalf.
“The more honest you can be with probation, the better,” Judge Saxby told her. “They are very good at sussing people out.”
The case adds to mounting concerns about the safety pressures placed on so-called gig-economy drivers, who are often paid per delivery and can face commercial incentives to complete drops as quickly as possible. While no detail has been disclosed in court about the specific platform Hanson was working for at the time, road safety campaigners have repeatedly warned that the model can encourage risk-taking on residential streets.
Hanson now faces a potentially lengthy disqualification from driving and the prospect of a custodial sentence when she returns to court in July.
