A mother was killed while pushing her toddler in a pram when she was struck by crane equipment hanging off a lorry trailer, a court has heard.
Rebecca Ableman, 30, was out with then two-year-old Autumn in the Cambridgeshire village of Willingham when she was hit on the head.
Lorry driver Kevin Miller, 70, had been driving the vehicle with its equipment not properly secured meaning it was 'plainly potentially lethal', a jury was told at a trial last year that was halted due to insufficient time for witnesses.
Miller was due to go on trial again today for causing death by dangerous driving but the prosecution accepted an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving.
The grey-haired defendant, who wore a dark green jacket and open-necked shirt and used headphones to follow proceedings, stood while the new charge was put to him.
He showed no emotion as he replied: ‘Guilty.’
Prosecutor William Carter told Peterborough Crown Court: ‘It was yesterday when that plea was raised as a possibility.
‘We considered this with obviously the police, with the expert witnesses who were to have to give evidence, and with, of course, Miss Ableman’s family.
Rebecca Ableman, 30, was out with then two-year-old Autumn in the Cambridgeshire village of Willingham when she was hit on the head by a loose boom on a lorry trailer
‘I had a meeting this morning with the CPS. It has been decided, after a great deal of consideration with everyone, that that plea is acceptable.’
Mr Carter said of the lesser charge that it related to ‘driving the vehicle with its crane boom and therefore grab inadequately secured’.
Judge Matthew Lowe told the defendant sentencing had been adjourned until April 14 for a report to be prepared by the Probation Service and released him on unconditional bail.
But he warned him to expect a jail term, saying: ‘The custody threshold is met in this case.’
Ms Ableman’s family, including her parents Russell and Sue, her partner Chris Tuczemskyi, a 37-year-old product marketing manager, her two sisters and best friend, sat quietly in the court throughout the hearing.
Asked if they wanted to say anything, Mr Ableman said: ‘Not at this stage’.
Miller left the court swiftly after the hearing. His solicitor said he would not be commenting, adding: ‘He is a man of few words.’
The defendant was transporting scrap metal from King's Lynn docks in Norfolk to two Network Rail depots in Essex and Cambridgeshire on September 22, 2022, jurors were told during the aborted trial in April last year.
Lorry driver Kevin Miller, 70, told police he was unaware of the incident until they stopped him more than two hours later. He admitted causing death by careless driving
He was driving through Willingham on B1050 road when the loose crane equipment shifted from its position and was left hanging over the edge of the trailer, dangling in the way of a footpath.
Ms Ableman had just left a farm shop with her daughter when she was hit by the heavy equipment at around 11.15am.
The court heard the NHS healthcare assistant suffered 'very serious head and brain injuries'.
She died three weeks later on October 16 in the neurointensive care unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
Thomas Butler, who was driving along the road at the time of the collision, told the court he had noticed the unsecured equipment.
'[I] thought it looked horrendous and I told my wife it doesn't look all right,' he said.
He then spotted a woman lying on the road with cars that had stopped nearby and there were 'people running around all over the place'.
Miller, of King's Lynn, was not arrested until 1.45pm and told police he had been unaware of the incident.
Ms Ableman, pictured with daughter Autumn and father Chris Tuczemskyi, 37
Ms Ableman died in the neurointensive care unit at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge three weeks after receiving the catastrophic injury
Her partner, Mr Tuczemskvi described her as 'my light in the darkest of nights, my rock for when I stumbled and my best friend'
Mr Carter told the court he said he would have stopped if he had know about it and officers heard him say: 'What's happened mate? I ain't hit no one.'
Paying tribute to Ms Ableman shortly after her death, Mr Tuczemskyi said: ‘To me, she was my light in the darkest of nights, my rock for when I stumbled and my best friend.
'She made me a better person, she pushed me to be and do better because she could see my potential when I could not.'
Mr Tuczemskyi started a fundraising page on GoFundMe in memory of his partner, who worked in a mental health hospital in Cambridge, with funds going to East Anglian Air Ambulance and Addenbrooke's Neuro ICU.
He was also raising funds for Autumn to explore the world and create a memorial bench for her late mother.
She had her first day at Willingham Primary School in September 2024.
The maximum sentence for causing death by careless driving is a five-year jail term.
A life sentence can be imposed for causing death by dangerous driving. This was increased from a 14-year maximum for offences committed on or after June 28, 2022.
