Trial of man accused of causing 30-year-old’s death put off until next year

The trial of a Lynn man accused of causing the death of a 30-year-old mother has been put off until next year.Rebecca Ableman, 30, was with her two-year-old daughter beside the B1050 in Willingham, Cambridgeshire, when she was struck by a lorry in September 2022.Kevin Miller, 70, of Lynn, denied causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared for trial at Peterborough Crown Court last week.

However, in what will surely come as a blow to nearly all involved, proceedings have now been adjourned until February 23 next year.A new two-week trial will begin on that date.Reports in other media outlets suggest the current trial was postponed due to the lack of time allotted for it, with barristers not wishing to “rush or put anybody under pressure during proceedings”.

In the 2022 incident, Ms Ableman was originally taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after being struck by crane equipment hanging off a lorry trailer, while her child was also hospitalised as a precaution. She had been pushing her toddler in a pram at the time.On the second day of his trial, the court heard that if the crane equipment had been secured properly to the lorry Miller was driving, the incident would not have happened. Jurors had been told told Miller was transporting scrap metal from the Lynn docks to two Network Rail depots in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and March, Cambridgeshire.The court was told that the loose unsecured crane equipment moved from its position – and was hanging over the edge of the trailer and the footpath in Willingham.Miller claimed he did not know there had been an incident until he was arrested.He said he would have stopped if he had known about the collision and officers heard him say: “What’s happened mate? I ain’t hit no-one.”