Woman banned over fatal car crash

A Strabane woman has been banned from driving for 12 months and fined £750 for causing a car crash which killed two members of the same family.

Laura Doherty, 25, of Mount Carmel, admitted causing the accident which killed Bernadette McElhinney, 57, and her daughter Lisa Marie, 31.

She was charged with driving without due care and attention and appeared before the city's magistrates court.

The accident took place on the Culmore Road, near Londonderry, last December.

The court was told Doherty's car went out of control as she rounded a left-hand bend while travelling towards the border.

She crashed into an on-coming car being driven by Lisa Maire McElhinney.

Deputy district judge Nigel Roderick said forensic examinations showed neither of the cars involved had any contributory mechanical defects nor was speed an issue.

He said the accident seemed to have been caused by a momentary lapse of concentration by the defendant.