Mum ‘haunted’ by daughter’s screams after telling her ‘daddy’s dead’

Both vehicles were said to be traveling at a “normal speed” before the collision and Mr Highton was shown on CCTV braking as the car passed him. However, he was “unable to avoid colliding” with the front of another vehicle.

Meanwhile, Barnes was shown to have slowed down but not stopped before performing the maneuver. Investigators found Mr Highton’s headlights were visible to her for eight seconds before the collision and remained in an “uninterrupted field of view” for five seconds before that.

The father of his three-year-old daughter was estimated to have had just one second to react to the event, making the accident “inevitable by then”. Barnes subsequently submitted to roadside tests for the presence of alcohol and drugs in her system, although there was “no evidence of her cell phone being used” before the crash.

When interviewed by Merseyside Police on November 16, she “simply could not explain how she had failed to see Mr Highton”. The deputy chief of the department told detectives that at the time she was driving five minutes to work and turned onto Thornton Road because she intended to stop at a store to buy cigarettes for herself and snacks, including cookies, for her co-workers.

In a statement read on her behalf, Highton’s mum Caryn Livingstone told the court his death came just three months after his brother Michael died of cancer aged 41. She described him as “not only a loving and devoted son, nephew, brother and cousin, but most importantly a proud and loving father,” and added: “We mourn the future that was taken from him and became a part of his life daughters. She was his whole world, his hopes, dreams and plans. the future is gone due to Natalie’s carelessness.

“James was my rock after losing my brother. He was always there for me if I needed anything. He was a very devoted and loving son. The last 10 months have been hell for us. We are serving a life sentence.”

Meanwhile, his aunt Denise Haney said: “We will never be able to get over the tragic loss of James. This could have been avoided. James’ little girl misses him so much. She was his world, and he was hers.”

Yasmin Paul, Mr Highton’s former partner and mother of his child, also tearfully read a statement to the court, which said: “The hardest thing I have ever had to do was tell our daughter that her father was murdered and she will never be able to see him again. Her cries and screams will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“She keeps asking if I’m coming home and it’s heartbreaking. She constantly asks questions about the day her father died. I had to put aside my grief to focus on her. will never be the same for her, me and the rest of the family.”

Barnes has no previous convictions, although she previously received two speeding tickets in September and December 2021. Oliver Jarvis, defending, said on her behalf: “The defendant must not have been concentrating enough. There was a lot going on.” The defendant cannot say how this happened and does not understand that the car was in sight for at least five seconds. She cannot give an explanation. know.

“She is not making excuses. It is her fault and entirely her fault. As soon as I saw her, she was full of remorse. The defendant is a former teacher, five years ago she switched to a nurse. She recently got married. Following her guilty plea, she was suspended It is unknown how her conviction will ultimately affect her employment.

“There is a letter from her manager which describes how the accused struggled with the burden of guilt she felt which led to her death. She was a compassionate nurse towards her patients. The defendant’s partner’s letter lays out the guilt she feels, all she can say is, “What have I done to his family?” This was not a deliberate attempt at reckless driving.

“There is no doubt that the defendant can and will be rehabilitated. She will, of course, live with this for the rest of her life. She will never want to drive a car again.

“Until now, she lived only wanting to take care of others. This is the career path she has always chosen. That’s why she became a mental health nurse. She is absolutely devastated that she caused someone’s death and it was entirely her fault. She can’t believe she is that person.

“She still seems a little shocked by the reality of what is happening and what is happening in court that she could not even imagine for a moment. Words are cheap, but the accused deeply regrets her actions.”

Barnes admitted causing the death by careless driving. Appearing in the dock in a black top and glasses, with her dark hair tied in a ponytail, she lifted a napkin to her mouth and burst into tears as she was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Handing down the sentence, Judge Brian Cummings K.C. said: “You and James Highton were traveling in opposite directions – you in a car and he on a motorbike – both heading to their respective places of work when you turned right across his path, causing the consequences for him to be clearly devastating. The consequences for others have also been devastating and will last a lifetime.

“He was a young man, a young father, and his family and friends are, of course, heartbroken. I admit, of course, that you didn’t mean any of this. If you, of course, did this, the court would be considering a case with a completely different form of crime, perhaps murder. This is not the case.

“I accept that you yourself are devastated by what you did, but you were at fault. Turning right is one of those maneuvers on the road that requires special concentration for obvious reasons. It is clear that you were not focused, as you should have been at the fatal moment. Why this happened will probably never be completely clear. Perhaps you yourself don’t know.

“I accept that you didn’t see James Highton, but he was there to be seen. You turned without stopping or showing any sign, and therefore, from his point of view, he had no advance warning. The first thing he learned about this was that it seemed that about a second before it was too late to take any meaningful action.

“That’s how he died, through no fault of his own. This is very difficult for his family to bear. No sentence that a court can pass can ever undo what happened or in any way compensate for the loss. Life, of course, was priceless.

“I acknowledge that you have shown and continue to feel genuine remorse. I often hear people apologizing, but in circumstances where I’m skeptical about it. I absolutely agree that you are devastated by what you did.”

Barnes was also banned from driving for five years. She was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and undergo up to 20 days of rehabilitation.