A LONG-term drug abuser has admitted that he was responsible for a crash on the A35 earlier this year in which his wife died.

Michael Trent, 48, of Cunningham Crescent, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court to causing the death of Karen Hawkins by careless driving while unfit through drugs.

He was at the wheel of the Ford Granada when it spun out of control, hit a road sign and ended up in a ditch near Slepe, between Poole and Bere Regis, at 5.30am on February 26. No other vehicle was involved.

Miss Hawkins, 33, who was a front seat passenger in the car, was cut free from the mangled wreckage of the car by firefighters, but was pronounced dead at the scene.

Frank Abbott, counsel for Trent, applied for a psychiatric report to be prepared on his client before sentencing.

He told the court Trent had a "considerable history" of class A drugs problems over the years and would benefit from a skilled independent person looking at how this had affected him. "No-one else is going to speak on his behalf," he said.

He said Miss Hawkins' mother had made an "extraordinary" statement, which made what he described as "extremely vitriolic" comments about Trent, who had been seen by the probation service on numerous occasions.

"He has lost someone very close to him: he has been gravely affected by the incident," said Mr Abbott.

Judge Dixon remanded Trent in custody to a date to be fixed for a psychiatric report to be prepared.

Trent appeared before Bournemouth magistrates a few days after the fatal crash, when he admitted possessing crack cocaine with a street value of £298 in the yard of St Peter's Church on February 12. He was jailed for four months.

Miss Hawkins' mother, Lorraine Pennock, asked mourners at her daughter's funeral in March to make donations to Bournemouth-based drugs charity Streetscene.

First published: May 25