A teenage driver was texting at the wheel 25 seconds before she careered into the opposite carriageway and killed a ‘loving son, brother, uncle and friend.’
Katie Foster, who was 18 at the time, was driving her red Volkswagen Polo when it crashed into a silver Peugeot 206 driven by Lee Cain which was travelling in the opposite direction.
Mr Cain’s car overturned and he was killed in the collision on the A688 bypass, near West Auckland, in County Durham, on March 21 last year.
Foster is facing jail for causing death by careless driving.
Katie Foster (pictured facing the camera) is facing jail for causing death by careless driving
Foster, who was treated in hospital for neck and back injuries after the accident, was among four people travelling in the VW Polo.
Her three passengers were said to have escaped unhurt from the collision.
Foster denied a charge of causing Mr Cain’s death by dangerous driving at a previous hearing.
The case was adjourned for a trial, which was due to start at Durham Crown Court this week.
But she then pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of causing death by careless driving.
She entered the plea on the basis of agreed facts including the texting and driving too close to the vehicle in front of her.
She also accepted braking very late with insufficient force, before swerving into the opposite carriageway where the collision took place.
The court was told she accepted sending a text message 25 seconds before the fatal collision and receiving one nine seconds prior to the accident, while her phone was said to have been beneath her leg.
Mr Cain’s parents Gail and Brian said: ‘Lee was a loving son, brother, uncle and friend’
Sentencing was adjourned until January 11 and she was banned from driving in the meantime.
James Lake, mitigating, told the court: ‘She’s 19, has no previous convictions and is in full-time work.
‘She came today expecting to be facing trial and wasn’t expecting to be sentenced.
‘She’s a young woman who would like to get things sorted before the likelihood of a custodial sentence.’
Mr Cain, from West Cornforth, County Durham, worked with his younger brother Bradley for their father’s tyre-fitting business in Spennymoor.
He had been with his partner Jill for the last two years.
Mr Cain’s parents Gail and Brian said: ‘We are devastated by what has happened.
‘Lee was a loving son, brother, uncle and friend and words cannot describe the hole in our hearts now that he is no longer with us.
‘Lee loved spending time with his friends and family, especially his young nephew, Lewis.
‘He was a regular at the Square and Compass pub, where he could often be found telling jokes and recounting funny stories about himself.
‘He was strong, tough and loveable and would do anything for anyone.’