A WOMAN accused of causing the death of another driver "misjudged" a bend which resulted in a "catastrophic loss of control", a jury was told.

Diane Rachel Jones, of Church Terrace in Marchwiel, appeared at Mold Crown Court on Tuesday for trial.

At a previous hearing in January the 51-year-old had denied causing death by careless driving of David Michael Davies, the collision having occurred in July 2019 on the A525 at Horsemans Green.

On Tuesday the trial heard first from PC Angela Faulkner, who attended the scene after North Wales Police was alerted to the collision.

She told the hearing she reduced her speed en-route due to the road conditions being "greasy," in the rain after a long dry spell.

PC Faulkner said she could see no skid marks at all but there were 'rivulets' of water and 'small puddles' forming at the scene.

She said after confirming with paramedics at the scene that the injuries were not thought to be life changing and the North Wales Police collision investigators being at another incident, a decision was made to make a record of the scene so that it could be reconstructed at a future date if necessary.

The officer also checked Jones for drugs and alcohol, as well as looking at her mobile phone.

She told the court she had no reason so believe the defendant had used the device in the leadup to the collision.

John Philpotts, prosecuting, also read out a transcript of Jones' interview with police at Llay in December.

During that, she told officers she had been to see her dad prior to the incident and had been concerned about the driving of others in the rain, which she said was "hammering down."

She told the police she had been travelling at around 40 miles per hour and when she came to the bend where the collision occurred she applied "steady braking."

What happened next happened quickly, she said. Jones claimed the back end of the car came round and she "fought" to regain control.

But she saw ongoing cars and thought "this is going to hurt," before later regaining consciousness after her car came to rest on its side.

She told PC Faukner at Wrexham Maelor Hospital that the thought she'd aquaplaned.

When the defendant was called to give evidence she told Duncan Bould, defending, she hadn't been in a hurry, had been using headlights and wipers.

She said she believed she took her foot off the accelerator when the car started to turn and despite trying to use the steering wheel to prevent further loss of control, she wasn't able to stop it.

When questioned by John Phlpotts, prosecuting, she agreed she knew it was a "rough road" and one that had to be driven carefully.

Collision investigator Michael Prime was also called to give evidence following his assessment of the scene.

He said if a vehicle had been going too fast around the bend, it would have no choice but to leave the road to the nearside.

The fact Jones' car followed a line or curve righter than the bend to end up where she did is "indicative" that she wasn't going too fast to negotiate the bend, he said.

He also said the road has two very different surfaces - a high friction one, and an asphalt one, which would produce variations in the level of grip.

He said: "It would only take a small patch of road on a corner - everything may be fine until you arrive on a piece of road where the grip is reduced for more than a moment.

"When it turns out of control, it would be very difficult for any driver to regain control.

"It almost always ends in a crash when someone loses control on a bend."

He added any harsh braking or steering applied when taking a corner would compound any difficulties cased by a variation in grip.

Mr Prime said he believed the court could "discount" aquaplaning as an explanation.

He added that while it would be a good idea to reduce speed if a vehicle is travelling too fast for a corner, breaking must be done in a measured way and is generally to be avoided.

Summing up the prosecution case, Mr Philpotts said: "A competent and careful driver would have successfully gone round that bend - people did that day.

"She's an experienced driver who has a 30 year unblemished record but you only need to fall below that standard for a moment to be guilty of driving without due care and attention.

"She knew the road, that the surface was not the best.

"There was fair warning there for drivers of the imminent series of bends.

"It is clear she did not take the bend at excessive speed.

"We suggest she has misjudged the bend, entered it too fast and braked, with the catastrophic loss of control."

Mr Bould, summarising the defence case, added: "Throughout her life, she has never been found to be a person who isn't straight forward and honest.

"She is giving the best account she can and I suggest that is what she did when she was interviewed by the police.

"She said she was driving along the road, she adjusted her driving to take account of the conditions.

"There's no evidence here of any course of driving that suggests there's anything wrong with the approach Ms Jones has taken."

Mr Bould also said due to the nature and condition of the road surface, it may have been the case that the tyres on her vehicle were on materials offering varying levels of grip, which can cause "destabilisation" of the vehicle.

Make sure you don't miss the top court stories of the week by signing up to our free court newsletter