A WREXHAM woman was driving her brother’s car when it went out of control killing a Connah’s Quay motorcyclist, a court heard.

Rachel Roberts, 25, had gone for a drive with a friend in the MG TF car when the crash happened near Ellesmere, Shropshire, more than a year ago.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court she was banned from driving for a year and was ordered to complete 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Roberts, of Charles Street, Brymbo, near Wrexham, who admitted causing the death of Andrew Wilson Jones while driving when uninsured, was also ordered to pay £600 costs.

The court heard that Mr Wilson Jones, 36, who worked at the HBOS bank in Chester, died after the crash on the A495 in June last year.

Philip Beardwell, prosecuting, said the car being driven by Roberts was fitted with specialist tyres that should not have been used on the same axle of the vehicle.

He said a driver following her car said the defendant had properly overtaken him, but the car had then started to “fishtail”, twitching until it eventually veered across the road, into Mr Wilson Jones’ path.

The court heard when the car was first produced Goodyear had made special tyres for it, but the company later issued guidelines to car dealerships saying the tyres should not be fitted to the same axle.

“That fact was not known by the owner of this car,” he said.

Judge Peter Barrie said neither Mr Wilson Jones nor Roberts had done anything to cause the collision, but said Roberts should have checked to make sure she was insured when she borrowed her brother’s car. He said he was very concerned that the tyres had resulted in a catastrophic loss of control but said this was a mattter for the coroner to address.

Judge Barrie said Mr Wilson Jones’ partner and parents had been left devastated by their loss and his partner had visited the cemetery every day since his death.

Paul Smith, for Roberts, said nothing could be said on behalf of his client that could compare with the grief and pain of the loss of Mr Wilson Jones. He said Roberts did not have any previous convictions and had a clean driving licence.

l In relation to the charge, the Crown Prosecution website states: “The defendant need not be culpable in any way for the death. But Parliament has decided that where a person has committed the mischief of driving, while at the same time being unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured, and someone dies, that person is criminally liable for that death.”