### Jail Term Cut for Driver Who Caused Tragic Death of Infant Outside Welsh Hospital
A woman who caused the death of a baby in a heart-breaking incident outside a hospital in west Wales has seen her prison sentence reduced, following an appeal. The episode has prompted renewed attention on sentencing for cases of dangerous driving, particularly where the circumstances are accidental but devastating.
Bridget Curtis, now 71, appeared before the Court of Appeal this week after being handed a four-year term for causing death by dangerous driving. Her case dates back to June 2023, when she unintentionally accelerated her BMW 520d outside Withybush Hospital, Haverfordwest, mounting a kerb and fatally injuring eight-month-old Mabli Cariad Hall, who was waiting in her pram with family.
On the day of the incident, Curtis had taken her daughter for a hospital appointment. As her daughter reached to search for her handbag in the backseat, Curtis turned to help, inadvertently pressing down on the accelerator while the vehicle was still running but not properly secured in park. This split-second error saw the car surge forward at over 29mph across a grass verge, colliding with the pram and leaving Mabli with catastrophic head trauma. The child, the youngest of six siblings, died four days later despite receiving intensive treatment in Haverfordwest, Cardiff, and Bristol.
Mabli’s family had just spent precious final moments with another loved one, as her paternal grandmother was in end-of-life care within the hospital. The collision, in the immediate aftermath of these emotional goodbyes, added yet another layer of grief to the family’s experience. Mabli’s mother, Gwen Hall, described her daughter as “so bright, so beautiful, so full of love and life”, recounting that the day before her death, Mabli had said ‘Mama’ for the first time. The family’s losses were shared in a victim personal statement, which was noted by the court as being particularly moving and poignant.
Curtis had pleaded guilty to the charge at Swansea Crown Court last September. Her previously clean record and 50 years’ safe driving were highlighted, yet the judge found the seriousness of the offence warranted a four-year custodial sentence, with a six-year driving ban. Her defence acknowledged her devastation, underlining her role as a mother-of-four and grandmother of ten, and framed the crash as a “lapse of concentration”.
At the appeal, Curtis’s lawyer contended that the original sentence was disproportionately harsh considering the circumstances. Senior judges agreed, branding her original penalty “manifestly excessive”. The court reduced her jail term to three years but extended her driving disqualification to seven-and-a-half years to reflect the incident’s gravity and the need to protect the public.
Mr Justice Butcher, supported by Lord Justice Bean and Judge Richard Marks KC, offered sympathy to Mabli’s family, stating: “No one could fail to sympathise with them for the appalling loss they have suffered.” He emphasised that Curtis did not act with intent to harm, and her error spanned only a matter of seconds, yet remarked these seconds were “far from being negligible” given the presence of vulnerable hospital-area pedestrians.
Notably, the court accepted Curtis’s expression of remorse as genuine, characterised the event as arising from confusion between pedals, and acknowledged her previous good character. However, the judgement did not diminish the seriousness of the fatal mistake, observing that even brief lapses can cross the threshold into dangerousness with dire consequences.
Throughout the proceedings, the prosecution did not challenge the appeal or make further submissions. As the case closes, it stands as a somber reminder of the lifelong impacts that can stem from moments of inattention on the road—and also of the complexities judges face in balancing justice, deterrence, and compassion in sentencing.