A driver has been handed a suspended prison sentence after admitting to causing the death of an 18-year-old Dorset woman, Laionie Kennard, following a crash in Ringwood.
Laionie, from Verwood, was a passenger in a BMW driven by 20-year-old Joseph Pickett when it left the road on Hurn Lane on 16th September 2023.
The car was driving between 43mph and 54mph in a 30mph limit.
Poole Magistrates’ Court was told that when going round a bend, Pickett lost control and the car crashed into trees.
Ms Kennard was pronounced dead at the scene.
Pickett, a serving soldier, of Lyneham, Wiltshire, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, and must complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Magistrates disqualified him from driving for two years and fined him £232.
Before being allowed to drive again he must take a retest.
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