Woman admits causing death of arena bombing hero

Darron Coster rushed to the aid of casualties injured by the Manchester bombing in 2017

A driver has admitted causing the death of a motorcyclist hailed as a "hero" in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing.

Jacqueline Higson was warned she could face prison after she pleaded guilty to one charge of causing the death of 54-year-old Darron Coster by careless driving at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday.

Higson, 65, had previously denied the more serious offence of causing death by dangerous driving following a collision between her car and Mr Coster's bike near Skipton, in North Yorkshire, in July 2021.

Mr Coster, a Royal Military Police veteran, had rushed into the Manchester Arena shortly after it was bombed in May 2017 to help treat casualties.

Higson, of Robinson Street in Chatburn, Lancashire, was told by the Honorary Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Rose, that she would be sentenced on 26 November.

She will no longer face a trial for causing death by dangerous driving, which had been scheduled to take place next April, having admitted the lesser charge, which was accepted by the prosecution.

The judge said all options, including an immediate prison sentence, would be available to the court when Higson was sentenced.

Sir John Saunders, chair of the inquiry into the Manchester Arena attack, said Mr Coster had been a hero for his actions on the night of the bombing

According to the inquiry into the Manchester bombing, Mr Coster, from Accrington, was said to have used his military first aid training to treat injured casualties, while he also closed the doors to protect onlookers from trauma.

He had been outside the venue waiting to collect his son from the Ariana Grande concert taking place at the time.

Sir John Saunders, chair of the inquiry, said at the time of Mr Coster’s death: "I described him at the conclusion of his evidence as a hero for what he did on the night of May 2022, 2017, and I don’t think anyone could or would disagree with that description."

After leaving the Army, Mr Coster worked in training and development for a road haulage firm and as a mechanic in professional motorsport.

A passenger in the car which struck him, a woman in her 80s, suffered a leg injury.

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