A MOTORIST has admitted causing the death of a young film maker by driving carelessly on the A40.

David Portch, of Kilnwood, in Walter’s Ash, Buckinghamshire, appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday on what was to have been the first day of his trial.

The 29-year-old was accused of causing the death of Wilson Lau, from Kidlington, by dangerous driving on the A40 on December 3, 2013.

But yesterday Portch pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of causing death by careless driving.

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The plea was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Scooter rider Mr Lau, 24, died of his injuries at the John Radcliffe Hospital two days after the collision, which happened between Minster Lovell and Ducklington.

Oxford Mail:

Wilson Lau, 24, died in a crash on the A40

Nicholas Syfret QC, defending, told Judge Peter Ross his client knew he now had to be sentenced for the “tragic consequences” of what he had done, but he requested a pre-sentence report be prepared by the Probation Service before sentence was passed.

He also asked for Portch to keep his driving licence temporarily and that the mandatory driving ban legally required by the law be postponed until he was sentenced.

Mr Syfret said he was asking for this “mercy” for his client because he worked as a plasterer and needed to make arrangements before being banned from driving, and also so he could visit his son.

Judge Ross said he would grant the request for a pre-sentence report, but told Portch he would follow the normal procedure by imposing an interim driving ban.

He added that in his view the case should have been charged originally as death by careless driving, rather than dangerous driving.

Prosecutor Michael Roques said members of Mr Lau’s family had flow in from China for the trial, and would stay to attend the sentencing hearing. Portch was released on bail and will be sentenced on Friday next week.


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