Driver accused over mum death

Wolverhampton mother-of-two Maxine Leigh, who was aged 43, had been enjoying a Sunday afternoon trip with her family when the silver Skoda Superb she was driving was in collision with Stephen Taylor's Mercedes Sprinter van.

Taylor, aged 42, appeared before Wolverhampton magistrates yesterday where he made no plea to charges of causing death by dangerous driving and driving without a licence.

Maxine, who had worked on the Clarins counter at Beatties since 1994, died at the scene of the tragedy in Coalway Road, Penn, last September after the family's Skoda demolished a brick wall and the van overturned due to the impact.

Her 45-year-old husband Martin, of Penn Road, was left with a bruised lung and whiplash and the couple's two sons Nathan, aged 11, and eight-year-old Jake were also injured.

District judge Martin Brown yesterday sent the case to the crown court and Taylor, of Whittaker Street, Parkfields, was bailed until February 8.

After the tragedy Martin Leigh, Maxine's husband of 10 years, told of his heartbreak and described her as a "fantastic wife and mother". He said her death had left a void in the family's lives that could never be filled.

"She was just a fantastic, beautiful person," he said. "She was outgoing and bubbly with lots of friends and lived for her family. The kids broke down in tears when I told them they wouldn't see their mummy again but they have been so strong, especially Nathan.

"He gripped my hand and told me it would be okay - it was almost like he was the father."

As well as working at Beatties, Maxine, a former Ely School pupil, had also embarked on a part-time course as a teaching assistant at Dudley College and taken up a voluntary place at Penn Hall School.

A 500-name petition was raised after her death demanding the road be improved where she died.

by Andy Rea