Crash death is admitted

Mother-of-two Maxine Leigh, who was 43, was on a Sunday afternoon outing with her family when the silver Skoda Superb she was driving was in collision with a Mercedes Sprinter van being driven by Stephen Taylor.

Taylor had denied causing death by dangerous driving but today changed his plea to guilty.

He was given an immediate driving ban and Judge Nicholas Webb warned him he faced jail.

The 42-year-old, of Whittaker Street, Parkfields, Wolverhampton, was for trial at the city's crown court next month. He will now be sentenced on September 28 after reports are drawn up. He got conditional bail.

Mrs Leigh, of Penn Road, Wolverhampton, who worked on the Clarins counter at Beatties since 1994, died at the scene in Coalway Road, Penn, in September.

Her husband Martin, 45, had a bruised lung and whiplash and the couple's sons Nathan, 11, and Jake, eight, were also injured.

After the tragedy, Mr Leigh described her as a "fantastic wife and mother". He said the 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.