Widow is suing her council over the death of her husband - as she says he 'died after hitting pothole'
A heartbroken widow is suing a council over a pothole which she claims caused her husband's death.
Robert Newcombe, 70, died after his motorbike hit a crater in the road on September 25, 2022.
The grandfather-of-three was riding with a group of bikers to a memorial event in Staffordshire when he was thrown from his motorbike along the A43 in Walgrave, Northamptonshire.
The retired hospital porter slid for 170ft (53m) before smashing into the kerb of a roundabout.
He suffered catastrophic head injuries and a broken neck before going into cardiac arrest. Despite the efforts of medics, he could not be saved and died at the scene.
A coroner later ruled his death had been caused as a result of a 'degraded road surface'.
His wife Aileen, 71, has now launched High Court legal action against North Northamptonshire Council claiming 'substantial damages'.
The local authority denies liability and the case will go before a judge if the two sides cannot agree a settlement.
Aileen, of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, said: 'I want his name exonerated because they are not accepting responsibility for what happened.
'I just want justice for my husband and for other families to not suffer a similar heartbreak.
'Even if I get nothing, they need to be held accountable for what they've done to me and his family.'
The widow said the country 'has enough money' to make sure roads are looked after properly, adding: 'The council knew about this pothole and the state of the road.
'He was a union man with morals and principles, he stood up for what he believed was just and right - I'm only doing what he would have done himself.
'I think that's the least I can do for him - to make sure he gets justice.
'It's not about the money, they could give me a million pounds and it wouldn't come close to replacing him.
'I would do anything to have him back. I'm totally lost without him.
'I am physically, emotionally and mentally spent - it has had a profound impact on me.
'We'd got so many plans for our retirement, like going away in our caravan, and they've all just gone.
'I didn't even get chance to hold his hand and say goodbye. In 51 years of marriage the longest we were apart was no longer than five days.
'At his funeral over 300 bikers followed him, he would have loved it. If a funeral could be beautiful, this was it.
'I miss him terribly, I have a cry for him every morning and every night.'
Robert, who was also a union official for Unison, had been on his way the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire to visit a memorial to the founder of the Hells Angels.
He overtook a vehicle when he hit the pothole, which led to him coming off his Indian Scout Bobber machine.
Mum-of-one Aileen, a former council worker herself, added: 'They were meeting up with a group of Northamptonshire bikers first, which is why he was down that way.
'There were no warnings about the state of the road. He came off, broke his back and neck and had a cardiac arrest.
'I wasn't even able to see him until 25 days after he died.
'I just feel sick thinking about it - I've not really had chance to grieve with this hanging over me.
'The council have never said anything to me, nothing by way of an apology or sympathies, all I want is for them to take responsibility.
'They are just trying to wash their hands of it - even claiming things which went against what a coroner, the police and several witnesses said at the inquest.
'They claimed he was speeding and made a dangerous maneuver, which is not the case. They have tried to blame him and I'm not having it.'
Ken Brough, personal injury lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen, who is representing Aileen said: 'No family should have to suffer the pain of a loved one not returning from a motorbike ride.
'Sadly, the inquest into the death of Robert Newcombe concluded that he lost his life as a direct result of the poor state of the road on which he was driving.
'The raised and rippled surface caused Mr Newcombe to be thrown off his bike, resulting in his death.
'Although it is unusual for a motorbike rider to lose their life as a result of poor road conditions, it is not unheard of.
'All councils have a responsibility to ensure they adequately inspect and maintain all roads, regardless of whether this critical process is outsourced or conducted in-house.
'The inspection process must be fit for purpose in practical terms and not just conducted as a tick-boxing exercise.
'We are hopeful North Northamptonshire council will settle our civil case with Mrs Newcombe swiftly and make sure lessons are learnt, protecting future lives.'
The lawyers also say in her claim for compensation: 'Poor quality repairs had caused the A43 in the area of the turning to Walgrave to become dangerous, with the tarmac melting and then solidifying, creating a dangerous, undulating carriageway.'
They have accused the council of failing to heed numerous previous reports from members of the public about the poor state of the road.
Road charity Brake is funding Aileen's legal action but said they could not comment on individual cases.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Courier
18 hours ago
- The Courier
Tuesday court round-up — Bogus tradesman and £90k dealer
A Dundee father-of-three was jailed for 32 months after he was caught storing heroin and cocaine worth more than £90,000. The High Court in Edinburgh was told did not know the value of the drugs police recovered from an address at Ormiston Crescent. Judge Lord Arthurson told the 30-year-old he would have faced a four-year jail term but for his early guilty plea to two charges of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin on July 17 last year. During a search, officers found more than half a kilo of heroin and three kilos of bulking agent in a holdall, along with quarter of a kilo of cocaine in a gift bag and smaller amounts of cocaine. The cocaine was assessed as having a maximum value of £50,500 and the heroin £40,000. Officers also found £460 in a jacket pocket. Defence solicitor advocate Kris Gilmartin said Ogilvie was laid off from his employment last summer. 'He accepts he was abusing drugs at the time and he was suffering financial difficulties.' He said Ogilvie agreed to store the drugs but stood to gain very little financially and 'did not know the value and did not know that heroin was also present'. He added: 'He accepts fully his involvement in these offences and appreciates that he must be punished.' 'A significant part of that punishment is letting his family down. His actions have caused misery to those closest to him.' A senior manager at power firm SSE has been banned from driving for two years after he drunkenly careered his car into a Perth woman's garden. was five times the limit when he ploughed his Land Rover Discovery through a hedge. A Fife tradesman who swindled thousands of pounds from customers has been given a hefty compensation order and told for a second time to do unpaid work. , 25, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court after failing to do the 160 unpaid work hours to which he was originally sentenced about a year ago for the crime. The court heard he has only done one hour. Aitchison, of Sherbrooke Road, Rosyth, previously pled guilty to three fraud charges. On March 1 2023 at an address in Nether Currie Road, Edinburgh, he pretended he would carry out work to renovate a room in his house and obtained a £1,300 deposit by fraud, knowing he had no intention of doing the work. He fraudulently obtained a £1,400 deposit from a woman by pretending he would install a new kitchen at her home in Leadside Crescent, Wellwood, on September 28 2023. Between April 21 and September 27 of that year at an address in Goulden Place, Dunfermline, he obtained a £3,200 deposit by fraud by pretending he would carry out building work. Defence lawyer Pete Robertson said Aitchison – who remains in joinery work – started his own business but got himself into debts and ended up 'putting his head in the sand'. The lawyer said Aitchison's focus until February this year was cocaine use but that he has started to take steps to abstain, is now more pro-social and is assessed in a background report as suitable for unpaid work. Sheriff Susan Duff made a compensation order for the full amount and gave Aitchison 74 weeks to pay at £100 per week. He will be under offender supervision. The sheriff also told Aitchison to do 159 hours of unpaid work – taking account of the one hour he did – within three months. A security engineer who clambered into a fire tragedy Perth hotel to reclaim his CCTV cameras told a court how he was treated by police as a murder suspect. entered the New County Hotel through an upstairs window just weeks after the horrific blaze in January 2023 that claimed the lives of three people. After a lengthy trial he was cleared of breaking into the hotel and stealing the cameras. drunkenly dished out racist and homophobic abuse at Dundee bar, Captain's Cabin. As he was arrested, he called police 'Nazis' and 'woke'. Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith told Penman: 'If I were woke perhaps I would step back from a custodial sentence.' Dundee Sheriff Court heard how the 40-year-old approached door staff at the North Lindsay Street bar at around 11.50pm on November 23 2024 and said: 'Your venue is full of Nazis 'Why do you let all these black b******s in?' He was refused entry and became 'irate and agitated', a prosecutor said. He began shouting, 'Nazi b******s' at patrolling police and after being handcuffed and taken to the nearby police headquarters, shouted: 'You mutants, you freaks. 'Woke p**f. Transgender woke c**t. You're a f****t.' Penman kicked out repeatedly and kicked one PC on the body. Solicitor Gary McIlravey said of his client: 'He had no recollection whatsoever. 'He has not covered himself in glory with his behaviour and underpinning the offences was the excessive consumption of alcohol.' Penman was placed on a restriction of liberty order (10pm-6am) for four months. A pizza chef who smoked cannabis with a missing 12 year-old girl before raping her in Fife has been jailed for five years. exploited the youngster at his then-home in Burntisland in June 2023 and claimed in the high court he thought the child was older than she was. A 53-year-old who made a sexual remark to a 15-year-old girl at Glenrothes bus station and stole money from a pensioner has been jailed for 14 months. On other occasions at the same bus station, struck a bus service employee on the head with his crutch and was racially abusive to another man. Hamilton appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court for sentencing by video link to prison after earlier pleading guilty to separate offences of directing sexual verbal communications at a child, assault, theft, and acting in a racially aggravated manner. Prosecutor Matthew Knapp told the court the teenager was left 'alarmed and very uncomfortable' on July 31 last year when Hamilton asked her age then told her 'you have good boobs and a bum for a 15-year-old.' Defence lawyer Calum Harris said Hamilton, of Glenrothes, was under the influence at the time and has little recollection of the incident. Hamilton had already been told at the station he was banned from Stagecoach buses after leaving blood-soaked bandages on a coach on June 22 last year. He had reacted by hitting a supervisor with his crutch, cutting his head. His bus station offending also included, on August 19 2023, acting in a racially-aggravated manner by repeatedly uttering racist abuse and raising his crutch at a man in an aggressive manner. On June 15 last year at an address in Postgate, Glenrothes, Hamilton stole a 'quantity of cash' from an 81-year-old man. Referring to a previous background report, Mr Harris said his client had been sleeping rough for three years prior to his remand in March. He said Hamilton has been a drug user since the age of 13, when he was first introduced to heroin and more recently, crack cocaine.
Scottish Sun
21 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Super Sperm Donor' TV star ‘recreated alleged sex attack', court told
The court heard how he jetted off to the Philippines to donate sperm to a couple in October 2022 Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A RAPE accused told a jury how he's recreated the alleged sex attack with his latest girlfriend. Mitchell Kennedy, 42, is alleged to have pounced on his ex in her own bedroom as she tried to dump him. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Mitchell Kennedy is accused of raping his partner after she tried to dump him But as he gave evidence in his own defence, the dad-of-two rubbished the claims and told the jury it would be impossible for him to do what he's been accused of. He said: 'She said we had sex with her on top. I held her by her hips. 'It's ridiculous. It's nonsense. I tried it out with my partner. There is no way a man can hold a woman on top of him. 'It's all an attention seeking thing. It is a horrendous experience she has put herself through with these false allegations. 'Why would anyone do this? It's hell for her as well. I believe it's the process that has traumatised her.' We told how Mitchell, from Aberdeen, appeared in a TV show called Britain's Super Sperm Donors. His trial at the High Court in the city heard he jetted off to the Philippines to donate to a couple in October 2022. He told the court the week-long trip came a day after he returned from a disappointing break to Majorca with his ex-girlfriend, who's 23. A pal of the woman told jurors: 'He went to the Philippines for what I believe to be a sperm donation. 'When he got back that was the end of the relationship because she didn't trust him.' Moment evil soldier who raped woman in town centre is caught cowering in toilet The trial was told the woman summoned him to her flat to split with him in November 2022 after he avoided seeing her for three weeks. A concerned flatmate claimed they heard the couple kissing and arguing through the door but they couldn't get her to leave the room. They then got a family member to contact her and falsely claim they had hurt themselves to get her away from Mitchell. The accused told the jury the woman was actually keen to save the relationship after problems during the rocky holiday to Majorca. Mitchell claimed the pair had consensual sex and he left thinking they were still a couple while her flatmates were up to a 'stupid game'. He said: 'It had gone better than I thought it would. 'We made love. I was in a good mood. I was happy. I wasn't concerned about what the game was.' Under cross examination from prosecutor David Logan he accused his ex of lying about what had happened. He said: 'She had backed herself into a corner. Making me out to be some kind of baddie. She's then having to juggle these two contrasting situations.' Mitchell was cleared of verbally and physically abusing his ex. He denies raping her. The trial before Judge Graham Buchanan continues.
Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Glasgow Times
Sex attacker tried to rape woman on Glasgow street
Stephen Stewart, 59, was spotted on top of the victim by a shocked passer-by as she headed to work in Glasgow city centre early on October 10, 2023. She immediately dialled 999 - officers soon arrived to find the younger woman still on the ground and Stewart sitting next to her. He later lied: "It is my pal's bird - she asked me to sleep with her." Stewart has now been jailed for four years after he admitted to an attempted rape charge. It emerged at the hearing at the High Court in Glasgow today that he already had 115 previous convictions stretching back to the early 1980s when he was a teenager. None were for sexual offences. Stewart had also been freed early from another prison term when he struck. Prosecutor David McDonald told how the woman had got chatting to Stewart and two other men as she looked for directions. More: Serial sex attacker raped woman he met on Tinder She had never met any of them before. Stewart and the woman later briefly went to where he was staying at the time before heading towards a pub. They eventually ended up at the Clyde Walkway area. Both took drink and drugs. The court heard the woman's next memory was being back where she lived the next afternoon. But, that morning, Stewart had taken advantage of the intoxicated victim. A passing cyclist at the Clyde Walkway had wrongly believed there was "some kind of consensual sexual activity" happening. Mr McDonald: "The woman remained lying on the ground and the witness noted no movement or response from her." A few minutes later, another woman walked past and spotted Stewart with his trousers down. More: 'Disgusting lowlife': Serial ticket scammer conned his own friends She thought he was "attempting to have sex" with the victim "while she was unconscious" and "lifeless". Police arrived and they got the woman up into a seated position, but she remained "unstable". During the probe into the sex attack, she later told officers: "I would not have gone near him with a barge pole." Billy Lavelle, defending, said Stewart had little memory of the incident, but accepted he had done what he had pleaded guilty to. Lord Colbeck cut the jail-term from four and a half years due to the plea. Stewart will also be supervised for a further three years on his release. The judge: "You have received numerous custodial sentences before and were released early from the last of those when you committed this crime. "This was opportunistic having been committed against a woman you had only met the previous day." Stewart was also put on the sex offenders list indefinitely.
