Company director, 66, who killed a guitarist, 47, after she became distracted while trying to switch on the heated steering wheel of her new £50,000 Volvo avoids jail

A company director who killed a guitarist after she became distracted while trying to switch on the heated steering wheel of her brand new luxury electric SUV has avoided jail.

Lynn Worgan, 66, took her eyes off the road for five seconds as she repeatedly tapped on buttons to activate the device just yards away from her £900,000 home in the Cheshire countryside.

This led her £50,000 Volvo XC40 Ultimate to veer onto the wrong side of the country lane and stray into the path of an oncoming Audi TT Quatro being driven by 47-year-old Christopher Allen. 

Despite taking evasive action to avoid the collision, the rock musician suffered multiple fatal injuries in the impact - including a traumatic head injury - and had to be cut out of his car and airlifted to Royal Stoke Hospital where he died two days later.

At Chester Magistrates Court, Worgan faced up to three years in jail under sentencing guidelines after she admitted causing death by careless driving.

But the defendant was given 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.

The tragedy occurred at 8.50am on May 15 last year when Mr Allen, who was nicknamed 'Bigsby', played with Indie rock group Green Bullet and was driving through the remote hamlet of Poole near Nantwich.

Miss Clare Oliver, prosecuting, said: 'Mrs Worgan was travelling in the opposite direction and it seems her intention was to put on her heated steering wheel. She had to look away from the road in order to do that and pressed the button twice.

'The car then veered across the road in the direction of where Mr Allen was travelling from. A witness travelling behind her said she strayed for about five seconds.

'Mr Allen swerved away from Mrs Worgan's car as he saw it approaching him but could not avoid a collision. That five second distraction Mrs Worgan was engaging in when turning on the heated steering wheel quite clearly fits the description of her 'engaging in a brief but avoidable distraction'.

Following the incident, Worgan told police she had had a 'momentary lapse of concentration' in the moments before the crash.

But Mr Allen's grief-stricken sister Lesley Everall condemned her driving and said she had considered taking her own life due to the trauma of the accident.

Referring to a previous hearing where Worgan pleaded guilty, Ms Everall said: 'The court was very draining and seeing the defendant was very difficult.

'I left the court feeling angry. It felt cold and I felt like Chris did not matter. I felt like it was all about the defendant. I felt I was the only one shouting about his life. At the court case, it was hard for me to hear that she was looking at the steering wheel on two occasions. She looked away twice.

'I do not feel it was a mistake. Once maybe, but not twice. She did not see his reaction or the fear on his face. The so-called carelessness meant she did not look up. This is the worst and most shocking and painful trauma I have had to endure in my life.

'There is shock, tears, guilt, anxiety and stress making me unwell, sleepless nights, nightmares, anger that at times has taken over me. The defendant has never had to experience this.

'I am not an angry person but I have been since this incident. I do not want the defendant to be part of my life anymore, I just want Chris's memory, and to find some closure.

'The tragedy has been the worst thing in my life and caused a lot of suffering, not just for me. It has also had an effect on other people, not just me.. I wish for justice but I am not sure I will ever be satisfied.'

In her statement, Mrs Everall added: 'Chris's life meant so much. He made an amazing impact on so many lives. He had the ability to brighten up any room and he touched all our hearts.

'Since the collision, I have suffered greatly with the emotional effects, suffering greatly with anxiety and stress. Within the first three weeks following the incident I could not leave the house through stress and anxiety.

'It was the thought of having to explain what had happened to Chris, to people I knew. I simply did not want to speak to anyone. I hid far away from the outside world. I just could not face that Chris had gone. My feelings have continued throughout this process. I still suffer with anxiety and distress.'

In mitigation for Worgan, defence counsel James Coutts said: 'This is a desperately tragic case that has resulted in a devastating loss of life.

'Whatever the impact on Mrs Worgan and her family it cannot and does not compare to the loss of the friends and family of Mr Allen as we have so emotionally heard from his sister.

'But it is the defence submissions that this was a momentary lapse of concentration. It was five seconds, and it was so sudden what happened.

'There is genuine remorse, guilt and shame and there is nothing that she can say or do that can do justice to the devastating impact this incident has had on the family. She would wish to offer a heartful and unreserved apology.

'It is right that she has not resumed driving and will not resume driving again. Given that the accident was just outside of her home address, she has a daily reminder of the incident. '

A district judge rejected pleas by prosecutors to transfer the case to crown court where more senior judges would have had greater sentencing powers.

Sentencing Worgan, District Judge Jack McGarva told her: 'Mr Allen was a relatively young man with a long life ahead of him. He actually pulled off the road to avoid being hit by you. His life has been wasted because of what happened.

'Nothing that you can do or I can do can change that. But I hope that being able to hear the impact on his family, which was very powerful, helps you to understand where they are and the kind of wilderness that they must be in as a result of what happened.

'It would be easy for me to say: "Send it to the crown court to let someone else make the decision". But if I do that, I think I would be abrogating my responsibility. I think it is a case where I can and should sentence. You have made a conscious decision to take your eye off the road to operate the controls of your car which requires pressing two buttons.

'There is the suggestion that your eyes might have been off the road for five seconds but at 40 mph you travel 60 feet or so, so five seconds is a long time. You made a choice - you did not have to operate the heated steering wheel.

'There is an argument that immediate custody is necessary to stop people making that sort of choice but there is a good prospect of rehabilitation and you are unlikely to be back before the courts. I believe ultimately you have to live with what you have done and you have to live with what you have caused other people to feel.'

Worgan was also made to pay £239 in costs and victim surcharge and banned from driving for two years.