Teenager denies causing deaths

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/kent/6037041.stm

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A teenager has appeared in court via videolink to deny causing the deaths of three women in a car crash in Kent.

Luke Bootes, 18, of Hawthorn Avenue, Sheerness, denied three charges of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed alcohol limit.

He also denied three charges of causing death by dangerous driving on 10 June, aggravated vehicle taking and making off without paying for £10 of petrol.

Carol Whittaker, Jean Wigglesworth and Phyllis Paolillo all died in the crash.

Public gallery

The incident happened on the A249 Brielle Way on the Isle of Sheppey.

Thirty relatives of the three women were in the public gallery at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday to hear Mr Bootes enter his pleas.

The case was adjourned until 19 February.

The women, all in their 50s, had been out for the day with Ms Whittaker's ex-husband Brian and their one-year-old grandson when her black Peugeot was in collision with another car.

The local women were all pronounced dead at the scene.