Driver guilty of causing ex-Wales netball team manager Crossman's death

A woman has been found guiltyof killing a pedestrian who was on her way to a Take That concert.

Fiona Hodge, 69, of St Werburgh's, Bristol, had denied responsibility for the death of 53-year-old Donna Crossman who was hit by her car and died as she walked to the concert at Bristol's Ashton Gate Stadium in June 2024.

Hodge told Bristol Crown Court she had "no recollection" of the moments leading up to the crash. She has since been diagnosed with epilepsy by neurologists.

But after more than six hours of deliberations on Monday, a jury found Hodge guilty of causing death by careless driving. She will be sentenced at a later date.

Judge Peter Blair KC said: "It was an enormously sad and tragic case for everyone involved."

He thanked the Crossman family for their dignity throughout.

Adam Vaitilingham KC, prosecuting, previously told the court that Donna, who was from Bridgend in Wales, had been walking across Brunel Way on the way to the concert at Ashton Gate Stadium on 9 June with two friends.

Hodge was driving a red Citroen and had two friends in the car with her after spending the day walking in the Mendips.

The car driven by Hodge went up onto the pavement, narrowly missing the two friends, and sent Donna over the roadside railings, the court was told.

Her family arrived in Bristol at around 22:30 BST, and Donna, a former manager of the Wales Netball team, died at about midnight.

Donna's father, Steve Price, previously described his daughter, who served for more than two decades in the RAF, as "perfect" and "adventurous".

He said: "She was wonderful, so caring, so loving... I know everybody says that about their kids, but she really was.

"She had a good life, she put a lot in, but she had so much more to give.

"Her circle of friends is massive and it's affecting everyone."

Ian Bridge, defending, previously told the court it is "likely that this collision happened because she [Hodge] was suffering from an undiagnosed condition called epilepsy".

Prior to the crash, Hodge had "never had a seizure before," said Vaitilingham.

The court was told Fiona Hodge had suffered a number of "weird" episodes linked to undiagnosed epilepsy before the crash.

She told the jury she had "no recollection" of the moments leading up to it.

When giving her evidence, Hodge told the court: "I do recall an incredible jolt… I was then in a sudden extremely rapid sense of consequences... I was on the kerb... and in front of me were three women."

She then told friends in the car: "I think I may have killed someone."