{"id":114715,"date":"2025-05-19T15:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T15:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/114715\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T15:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T15:58:10","slug":"mum-cleared-of-causing-deaths-of-two-young-men-in-oldham-fatal-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/114715\/","title":{"rendered":"Mum CLEARED of causing deaths of two young men in Oldham fatal crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natalie Read wept as she was told she was free to leave courtHarry Atkinson (left) and Lewis Meeson (right)<\/p>\n

A mum has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of two young men in a \u2018tragic\u2019 crash.<\/p>\n

Natalie Read, 41, was driving her Ford Kuga when she collided with an off-road bike being driven by 20-year-old Harry Atkinson, in Royton, Oldham<\/a> on Good Friday in 2022. Mr Atkinson\u2019s friend, Lewis Meeson, 21, was travelling as a pillion passenger on the back of the bike at the time.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors alleged that Ms Read caused the crash by turning into the path of the bike, which was not road legal and was travelling in excess of the speed limit.<\/p>\n

Ms Read later told police that she hadn\u2019t seen the motorbike until the crash.<\/p>\n

Following a trial at Manchester\u2019s Minshull Street Crown Court, Ms Read was acquitted of two offences of causing death by careless driving.<\/p>\n

Addressing an emotional Ms Read, trial Judge Maurice Greene told her she was free to leave the dock.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the jurors, he said: \u201cThis was an absolute tragedy where two young men lost their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese courts rely on yourselves to come here without much of a choice and rely on you to make decisions on cases and the effect on everybody’s lives, so we are very grateful for you for your careful consideration. Thank you very much.”<\/p>\n

Harry Atkinson (left) and Lewis Meeson (right)<\/p>\n

The families of both Mr Atkinson and Mr Meeson sat in the public gallery throughout the trial. Addressing them, the judge said: “I express my condolences to the family of Harry Atkinson and Lewis Meeson. I know how difficult this has been for you all to sit and listen to this.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tragic case,” prosecutor David James told jurors in opening the case. \u201cNo one is suggesting that anyone went out that day with any intention to cause harm to anyone else. It is likely to challenge you emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr James said that Ms Read was driving her Ford Kuga along High Barn Street, towards Royton town centre, just before 11am on Good Friday, April 15, 2022.<\/p>\n

She was planning on turning right into Cardigan Street as she made her way to visit the hairdressers. At the same time, Mr Atkinson was riding a Suzuki motorbike from Middleton<\/a> Road, through the traffic light governed junction and then onto High Barn Street. His friend Mr Meeson was sitting on the back as a pillion passenger.<\/p>\n

Mr Atkinson had gone through a red light through the junction onto High Barn Street, jurors heard. The court was told that the bike was not road legal. It was an \u2018off-road scrambler\u2019 bike, and not designed to carry a pillion passenger.<\/p>\n

Mr James said: \u201cThe motorcycle had priority in the lane it was travelling and there was nothing ahead or behind it. As the two vehicles approached the Cardigan Street junction from their respective directions, the defendant turned across the path of the motorcycle.<\/p>\n

Minshull Street Crown Court(Image: MEN Media)<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe Crown say this manoeuvre was far too close to the motorcycle. It appears to have caused Harry Atkinson to react to the car immediately in front of his motorcycle. The reaction caused Harry Atkinson and Lewis Meeson to fall from the motorcycle, possibly from Mr Atkinson dropping the bike in an effort to avoid a collision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The car and the bike collided, and Mr Atkinson and Mr Meeson both died at the scene. Jurors were told that Mr Atkinson had been wearing a helmet but it appeared that it had not been \u2018done up\u2019. Mr Meeson had not been wearing a helmet.<\/p>\n

The court was told that Mr Atkinson had been driving the bike at about 45mph in a 30mph zone, and that he had used cannabis \u2018at some unknown time\u2019 prior to his death. Experts later concluded that the bike may have reached speeds of up to 60mph.<\/p>\n

Ms Read underwent \u2018impairment\u2019 tests following the crash and all were negative. Her car was said to be in good working condition and essentially \u2018brand new\u2019.<\/p>\n

In an interview with police, she told officers that she had not seen the motorcycle and only became aware of it when they collided. She accepted that visibility was good and was \u2018unable to explain\u2019 why she hadn\u2019t seen the motorbike, the court heard.<\/p>\n

Giving evidence, Ms Read said she was a \u2018very careful and cautious driver\u2019.<\/p>\n

Summing up her evidence to jurors, Judge Greene said: \u201cShe said she thinks about the collision everyday. On April 15 she had a hair appointment. She said she checked her mirror and didn\u2019t see the bike, she can\u2019t explain why. She said she wouldn\u2019t have turned if she saw the bike.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said she was not distracted by anything. She didn\u2019t know where the bike had come from. She said she wasn\u2019t taking a chance. She intended to turn right and nothing was there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her barrister John Dye previously said in a closing speech that there was \u2018no criminal act\u2019 committed by his client. \u201cThis was not a crime, this was a tragic, tragic accident. It\u2019s as simple as that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ms Read, of Luzley Brook Road, Royton, was found not guilty of two counts of causing death by careless driving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Natalie Read wept as she was told she was free to leave courtHarry Atkinson (left) and Lewis Meeson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114716,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,30,393,4884,2465,1286,17296,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-114715","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-oldham","14":"tag-royton","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114535327765779285","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}