Abingdon woman accused of causing crash her partner died in

Courtney Goodwin-Diliberto, 24, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court accused of causing the death of her boyfriend, Ben Ireson, after allegedly causing him to overtake her on his motorcycle after braking in front of him.

The incident took place at the junction of Frax Close and Faringdon Road in Kingston Bagpuize in the early hours of the morning on April 28, 2022.

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Goodwin-Diliberto, of Aldiss Drive, Kingston Bagpuize, has denied the offence – telling police that Mr Ireson had being going ‘too fast’ and the lorry driver has been an ‘idiot’.

She is now on trial charged of one count of causing death by dangerous driving and one alternative charge of causing death by careless driving when over the prescribed limit for cannabis.

Previously in the trial, it was heard that the defendant had been driving a white Ford Focus while Mr Ireson, who was 26 at the time, had been riding his Yahama motorbike.

It is alleged that the defendant had braked ‘suddenly’ causing Mr Ireson, formerly of Bow Bank, Longworth, to overtake and collide head-on with a Royal Mail lorry.

During the trial on Thursday (March 6), the jury heard that in an interview with police later that day, the defendant said: “He [Mr Ireson] was going too fast. Fast enough where he had to overtake me.

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“The only reason someone would overtake is because I was going too slow. If you’re on a motorbike, you’re not going to sit behind someone doing 20mph or whatever.”

She answered ‘no comment’ when asked further questions about how fast she or Mr Ireson had been driving.

However, she later added: “It was going below the speed limit, he [Mr Ireson] was probably at the speed limit.

“I was going too slow because I hate that f****** corner because things like that happened, people go round that like an idiot – the Royal Mail driver was halfway on our [road].”

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Goodwin-Diliberto then told police that Mr Ireson had allegedly overtaken her and was already in front of her by the time the collision took place.

“He was over the white line back on our side of the road,” she said. “He was just coming in when the Royal Mail [went] over the white line.

“If they went over the middle Mr Ireson would have been fine, if anything he’s [the lorry driver] to blame because he was in the f****** way.”

The trial continues.