Woman's 'unwise' decision led to tragic death of Manchester Arena bomb hero

A woman made the 'unwise' decision to overtake a cyclist on a rural road before she killed a Manchester Arena bomb hero in a crash, a court heard.

Carer Jacqueline Higson drove her car onto the 'wrong side of the road' and struck motorcyclist Darron Coster, knocking him off his bike. Bradford Crown Court heard the 65-year-old performed the 'unwise' manoeuvre at the crest of an 'undulating' road in North Yorkshire when she could not see what was coming in the opposite direction.

Mr Coster, 54, sadly suffered unsurvivable injuries in the crash in July 2021. He was 'riding in a careful and responsible manner' at the time.

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The ex-serviceman was hailed a hero after he rushed to treat casualties after the terror attack on an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017. The dad was picking up his son from the venue when Salman Abedi detonated his improvised explosive, killing 22 innocent people.

After hearing the bomb go off, Mr Coster rushed inside and used his professional training to provide emergency treatment to victims. He used an injured man's belt and a handbag strap as tourniquets, and answered the ringing mobile phones of two victims, speaking with their relatives and reassuring them.

Manchester Arena Inquiry chairman, Sir John Saunders, later said he had done an 'amazing job' and described him as a 'hero'. Mr Coster died three months after giving evidence to the public inquiry.

Today (November 26), Higson, of Robinson Street in Chatburn, Lancashire, was handed a suspended prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to causing his death by careless driving. The court heard the crash happened on July 14 2021 on Jack Lane – a stretch of road linking the villages of Rathmell and Wrigglesworth.

Higson was driving her brother and aunt to lunch and Mr Coster was test driving a Ducati motorcycle he was considering buying. Prosecutor Harry Crowson said before the crash, a cyclist described being overtaken by Higson, who passed slowly and gave him plenty of room.

He told the court she performed another overtaking manoeuvre and pulled out into the opposite carriageway, 'unfortunately coinciding with a crest in the road'. Mr Crowson said: "Darron Coster had no time to react or even see the defendant’s vehicle.

"A collision report details that as the sole cause of the accident – Jacqueline Higson being on the wrong side of the road. (She) pulled out at a time when she could not see what was coming in the opposite direction."

A victim impact statement from Mr Coster’s wife Alison Coster said the couple had married when she was 22 years old and he was 'her whole world'. The statement, read in court, said: "He was my backbone and without him, every day has felt like an uphill battle since."

Mrs Coster said their son Charlie, who was 24 at the time, now has a one-year-old son of his own – a grandson Mr Coster 'never met and will never meet'. Mr Coster’s sister Deborah Coulson said his death was 'the direct result of a choice made by Jacqueline Higson, and the choice she made took away my brother'.

Jon Dye, defending Higson, said she was 'absolutely devastated to be here' but 'accepts her suffering is incomparable with the suffering of the family'. Mr Dye said Higson, who sobbed in the dock throughout the hearing, 'made a misjudgement' but that apart from the 'extremely unwise' manoeuvre, 'everything else in terms of her driving that day was sensible'.

He told the court Higson had been a carer for 37 years and was described in character references as 'a good, caring person'. Judge Jonathan Rose, the Recorder of Bradford, sentenced Higson to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.

She was also banned her from driving for two years and ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days.

The judge said: “(Mr Coster) was riding in a careful and responsible manner – he had no reason to believe he would be in any danger from a vehicle on his side of the road. The outcome was perhaps inevitable and certainly tragic.”

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