Woman jailed for causing death of elderly man while driving as she sent Facebook message on mobile phone

A woman has been jailed after crashing her car and killing an elderly man while trying to send a message on Facebook.

Sales representative Wendy Thompson, 53, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Enfield pensioner Rodney Lewis, 84, and seriously injuring his wife, 77, by dangerous driving.

The two pensioners had stopped their car to help another driver who had broken down on the North Circular in Barnet in February last year.

As they sat in their parked car, a red Hyundai Getz, Thompson ploughed her VW Passatt into it.

Mr Lewis was killed from head injuries and a broken neck. His wife, who was a passenger, suffered a broken hip and pelvis. She was rushed to hospital and has since been discharged.

Thompson, who was not seriously injured, confessed to police she had been sending a Facebook message on her phone.

She had been trying to plug the phone into a charger when the crash happened, on the A406 eastbound at the junction with Colney Hatch Lane.

The fatal crash happened at around 10.40pm on February 3 last year.

Thompson, of Windsor Way, Barnetby in north Lincolnshire, was convicted and sentenced at the Old Bailey on Monday.

The judge also banned her from driving for ten years.