{"id":12489,"date":"2026-07-18T14:51:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=12489"},"modified":"2026-07-18T14:51:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T14:51:03","slug":"tesco-car-park-tragedy-leaves-family-heartbroken-as-verdict-sparks-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/?p=12489","title":{"rendered":"TESCO Car Park TRAGEDY LEAVES FAMILY HEARTBROKEN AS VERDICT SPARKS FURY"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\ud83d\udc94\"\"\u2696\ufe0f\"TESCO Car Park TRAGEDY LEAVES FAMILY HEARTBROKEN AS VERDICT SPARKS FURY<\/h4>\n
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Driver, 95, who killed dog walker while eyeing up empty disabled space is spared jail<\/p>\n

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Joan Barwick arriving at Wolverhampton Crown Court for her sentencing today (Picture: SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A 95-year-old woman who ran over a dogwalker because she was too busy eyeing up a free\u00a0disabled\u00a0space on a petrol station forecourt has been spared jail.<\/p>\n

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Joan Barwick was \u2018simply not looking at what was in front of her\u2019 when she drove into grandmother Linda Wareham, 77, in Oldswinford in the\u00a0West Midlands\u00a0on April 17 last year.<\/p>\n

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Wolverhampton\u00a0Crown Court heard Barwick, of Wollescote, Dudley, was turning right into a petrol station forecourt in Hagley Road while Mrs Wareham was crossing but failed to stop to let her cross.<\/p>\n

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Barwick, wearing a purple cardigan and using a walking stick to enter the courtroom for her sentencing hearing on Friday, was given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.<\/p>\n

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She had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.<\/p>\n

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The elderly defendant was allowed to sit in the well of the court instead of in the dock so she could hear proceedings properly.<\/p>\n

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The court heard Barwick, who was driving a red Vauxhall Corsa, would have had seven seconds to see Mrs Wareham before the collision occurred, but was focused on a disabled parking space that she had spotted was free.<\/p>\n

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Mrs Wareham suffered catastrophic head injuries, and her life support was turned off at the\u00a0Queen Elizabeth\u00a0Hospital in\u00a0Birmingham\u00a0the next day.<\/p>\n

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The victim\u2019s tearful husband and daughter left the courtroom as CCTV footage of the moment she was hit by Barwick\u2019s car was played.<\/p>\n

Prosecution counsel Tim Harrington said Barwick was \u2018not paying proper attention to what was in front of her\u2019.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018She was driving at an appropriate speed and had slowed down to 10mph but that should have meant she would see any pedestrian crossing her path, so Mrs Barwick was simply not looking at what was in front of her.<\/p>\n

\u2018Instead, she was looking towards an available parking space on (the) forecourt.<\/p>\n

\u2018As she drove slowly into the garage, she didn\u2019t see Mrs Wareham, who was walking quite normally with her dog.<\/p>\n

\u2018She was driving at such a speed that she would have been able to stop had she seen her, perhaps making this all the more tragic.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mr Harrington said Barwick, who was 94 at the time of the collision, had an \u2018unblemished\u2019 driving record but said Mrs Wareham was a vulnerable road user who had right of way.<\/p>\n

Defending, Paul Lewis said Barwick had \u2018genuine remorse\u2019 for what had happened and had surrendered her driving licence following the fatal collision.<\/p>\n

He urged Judge Michael Chambers KC to suspend any custodial sentence, saying imprisonment would reduce her life expectancy to months.<\/p>\n

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He said: \u2018Her remorse is genuine and is sincere. She admitted her wrongdoing at the earliest opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u2018She does not in any way seek to excuse what took place.<\/p>\n

\u2018She continues to suffer the consequences of what she has done.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Barwick admitted killing Linda Wareham, who was hit by a red Vauxhall Corsa on Hagley Road near Tesco Express in Oldswinford (Picture: Newsquest\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He added: \u2018Mrs Barwick accepts she was not paying proper attention\u2026 There are clearly no winners here.<\/p>\n

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\u2018It is a terribly tragic set of circumstances.\u2019<\/p>\n

In a victim impact statement, Mrs Wareham\u2019s husband Peter said the couple had met at the age of 15 and had shared 60 years of life together but he had now been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.<\/p>\n

He said: \u2018She was caring and selfless\u2026 She was good fun and independent.<\/p>\n

\u2018She enjoyed a life of good\u00a0health.<\/p>\n

\u2018All that ended on April 18 when my wife was cruelly taken.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mrs Wareham\u2019s daughter Joanne Willetts said her mother was her \u2018unfaltering constant\u2019.<\/p>\n

She said: \u2018I cannot accept she isn\u2019t coming back.<\/p>\n

\u2018I carry a quiet sadness that will be with me the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

\u2018To lose my mum so tragically is heartbreaking for me and my children.\u2019<\/p>\n

Sentencing, Judge Chambers said: \u2018Mrs Wareham was clear for everyone to see as she progressed along the pavement.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m quite satisfied Mrs Wareham is entirely blameless.<\/p>\n

\u2018She was entitled to expect you to stop and respect the fact she had right of way on the pavement.\u2019<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018Nothing I say in imposing sentence can put the clock back nor should any sentence I impose be seen as an attempt to put value on a life that has been lost.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Crown\u2019s case is put on the basis that this was a momentary failure to keep a proper lookout.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Crown accepts that it can be inferred you were not paying proper attention as you should have done.<\/p>\n

\u2018You were simply not looking at what was in front of you, instead looking at an available parking space.\u2019<\/p>\n

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He added: \u2018It is right that you have no previous convictions and no previous offences related to driving matters. You have a good driving record.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Crown accepts that in January prior to this offence, you reapplied for your licence, and it was accepted that your sight was satisfactory to continue driving.\u2019<\/p>\n

Suspending the sentence he imposed, Judge Chambers said a period in custody would have a \u2018significant impact\u2019 on Barwick.<\/p>\n

He also disqualified her from driving for 10 years and ordered she pay \u00a3705 of prosecution costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TESCO Car Park TRAGEDY LEAVES FAMILY HEARTBROKEN AS VERDICT SPARKS FURY Driver, 95, who killed dog walker while eyeing up empty disabled space is spared jail Joan Barwick arriving at … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12489"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12489\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12490,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12489\/revisions\/12490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realnewsz13.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}