Nottingham Drug-Driver Gets Four Years for Killing 89-Year-Old on Scooter

Nottingham Crown Court has jailed Rayner Middleton, 31, for four years after she admitted causing the death of 89-year-old great-grandmother Doreen Raynor while driving with excess cocaine metabolite in her system. Middleton was travelling at about 46 mph in a 30 mph zone on Huntingdon Street on 4 March 2023 when her Audi A1 struck Raynor, who was crossing the road on a mobility scooter. Video footage shown in court captured Middleton’s aggressive undertake moments earlier and indicated she braked only when travelling around 44 mph, still hitting the victim at roughly 27 mph. Judge Steven Coupland said Middleton “chose to drive in an aggressive way at a speed that was grossly inappropriate,” noting that had she observed the limit the collision might have been avoided. Toxicology tests found more than twice the legal limit of benzoylecgonine in her blood, though prosecutors emphasised speed rather than impairment as the key factor. In addition to the custodial term, Middleton was disqualified from driving for four years. Victim-impact statements from Raynor’s family described the widow— who had 13 children, dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren— as the heart of their family and community.