A 71-year-old woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for causing the death of an eight-month-old baby girl in a car park collision outside a hospital in Pembrokeshire.
Bridget Curtis, from Kilgetty, admitted causing the death of Mabli Cariad Hall by dangerous driving. The incident occurred outside Withybush Hospital in Haverfordwest, where the infant had been visiting her grandmother, who was receiving end-of-life care.
The court heard that Curtis lost control of her BMW while reaching for her daughter's handbag on the back seat. Her foot pressed the accelerator, and the car launched forward at nearly 30mph, striking a pram being pushed by the baby's father, Rob Hall. The vehicle only stopped after hitting a tree.
Mabli was taken to the hospital's A&E department before being flown to Cardiff and then Bristol for specialist treatment. She died four days later. In a victim personal statement, Mr Hall described the ongoing trauma of witnessing the crash, while the baby's mother, Gwen Hall, paid tribute to her daughter as "the happiest, most loving soul".
Curtis, a farming business director, had been at the hospital with her daughter for an outpatient appointment. She was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court.
