Kevin Marsh sentenced for causing death of girlfriend in head-on crash

Following a six-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court, a jury yesterday unanimously found Kevin Marsh, 43, to be guilty of causing the death of his girlfriend Michelle Atherton by dangerous driving.

They dismissed his claims that his victim had grabbed the steering wheel to cause the Fiesta to go over to the wrong side of the road. 

The collision took place at around 7am on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, at the junction of Broad Oak Road and Delta Road in Parr, with Marsh's white Ford Fiesta colliding head on with a St Helens Council bin wagon after speeding in wet conditions.

On the day of the collision, the trial heard that Marsh and Ms Atherton were both intoxicated with alcohol and cocaine, with driver Marsh also admitting to having a cannabis joint.

The car journey began in the early hours of July 5. Marsh had claimed an argument over his ex-girlfriend caused Ms Atherton to grab a hammer and demand that she be driven to her house.

Marsh had claimed that his girlfriend began "screaming at me and told me to put my foot down" because “she thought she was being followed”, which caused him to drive in excess of 50mph in a 30mph area.

Michelle Atherton (Image: Merseyside Police)

After narrowly avoiding a collision with a van, Marsh claimed that Ms Atherton grabbed the steering wheel which drove the Fiesta into the path of the oncoming bin wagon.

After the collision, the trial heard Marsh was "staggering", "stumbling", and "looked like he had been drinking".

Marsh also told people at the scene that the Fiesta was not his car and he "didn't know what it was doing there".

He further alleged that he was a pedestrian and that he had been "jumped on" and was being set up, and also tried to call a taxi to leave the scene.

A roadside breath test showed that the driver had 58 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, over the limit of 35.

Further reports showed that his blood to alcohol level was more than double the limit, and he also tested positive for cocaine and cannabis.

Liverpool Crown Court

During the trial, prosecuting barrister Gibson said that Marsh was "making [his story] up" and had told "lie after lie" in the courtroom, adding that it was "the hands of Kevin Marsh that caused that head-on collision and the death of Michelle Atherton”.

Accepting his involvement in the death of his girlfriend, Marsh, of Gaskell Street in Parr, had pleaded guilty to death by careless driving while under the influence of drink and drugs.

He had denied the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, but after hearing all the evidence, the jury of four men and eight women took less than three hours to reach a unanimous decision yesterday.

During Marsh’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, Mr Gibson said: “The victim was not to blame for the collision” and that “the suggestion he was driving relatively normally is fanciful”.

He described Marsh’s driving as a “prolonged and persistent and deliberate course of dangerous driving”.

Mr Gibson described the movement of the car “from the correct side of the road” was a “highly dangerous manoeuvre” and that Marsh was “highly impaired by consumption of alcohol and drugs.”

He stated Marsh was “uninsured to drive the vehicle” and he “wrongly placed the blame on the victim of his criminality and did attempt to leave the scene.”

The court heard Marsh had a previous conviction in 2006 for driving with excess alcohol.

Defending Marsh, Steven Ball said: “He has to accept that a significant feature aggravating the sentence was he based his defence on blaming” his victim, adding “he caused pain and distress” to Michelle Atherton’s family and friends.

Mr Ball asked the judge to keep any increase to the sentence to the “absolute minimum”. 

Judge David Aubrey KC said: “Lives have now changed forever and her family will never be the same, she was to them the best mum to her sons and daughter, and their children have lost their grandmother.”

Judge Aubrey said Marsh “left her to die” because “you were thinking of your selfish self. At the scene she was calling out for her daughter and it pains her daughter that she was left alone to die.

“Michelle Atherton, notwithstanding some issues she had has been described as a kind-hearted and wonderful mother and grandmother and the family are left to mourn and grieve and will do so for the rest of their lives.”

Passing sentence, judge David Aubrey KC said: “I am satisfied that the deceased had not in any way contributed to the collision by grabbing, or trying to grab, the steering wheel and she hadn’t told you to put your foot down”.

'You left your girlfriend to die - you then commenced a charade of deceit'

Jailing Marsh, of Gaskell Street, Parr, for 16 years, the judge said he had “set to blame everybody else” and this “provides you with no mitigation”.

The judge said that after “you left your girlfriend to die you then commenced a charade of deceit, the purpose of which was your own self-preservation and self-protection because I’m satisfied that notwithstanding your fractured ankle and wrist you knew and remembered precisely what you were doing and what you were saying before you were ultimately arrested.”

The judge said Marsh’s expression of remorse in the witness box during the trial were “hollow words”.

Judge Aubrey said “you have exacerbated the grief held by her family”.