Reading text message killer driver guilty
A teenage driver who ploughed into a woman as she read a text message in Berkshire has been convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.
Keisha Wall, 19, veered off Forbury Road, Reading, into the path of 63-year-old Christine Lyon last February.
The crash happened while she was driving with her driving instructor mother, months after passing her test.
Wall, of Alston Walk, Caversham, was bailed and will be sentenced at Reading Crown Court on 11 April.
She was found guilty by a jury on Thursday afternoon.
Mrs Lyon, 63, of Furze Platt, Maidenhead, died of her injuries at the scene, despite being treated by a passing doctor.
The court had heard a police investigation showed Wall, who was 18 at the time of the crash, had been sent a text message seconds before the fatal crash.
Prosecuting, Charles Ward-Jackson said police seized the phone and found the text message had been read - although it was impossible to tell when.
She had been driving home from the Oracle Shopping Centre at the wheel of a Suzuki Jimny, which she had received as a Christmas present just weeks before.
The jury heard that when interviewed by police Miss Wall said she had been distracted by another car overtaking her on the dual carriageway.
She also told officers her mother, a driving instructor who had taught her to drive, might have grabbed the wheel.
Wall, who was released on bail, could be sentenced to a maximum of 14 years behind bars and a minimum two-year disqualification from driving.