A businessman who lost control of his Maserati in torrential rain and struck a mother-of-two sitting in a roadside lay-by has avoided a prison sentence.

Ronald Dowling, 66, was travelling at 76mph along the A4042 in Pontypool, Gwent, when he hit Sharon Berry, 54, in October 2023.

The father-of-five had overtaken another vehicle in what were described as “terrible” conditions before his £70,000 sports car aquaplaned. The crash also left both of his passengers seriously injured.

Dowling’s Maserati Ghibli skidded across the waterlogged road and smashed into Mrs Berry’s Audi, where she had been waiting for the “biblical downpour” to pass. She died from her injuries three months later.

Dowling’s wife, Kim, a grandmother-of-ten, suffered devastating injuries and now needs a wheelchair. His other passenger, Jane Beedell, was placed in an induced coma after sustaining serious injuries.

At court this week, Dowling admitted responsibility for Mrs Berry’s death but was spared an immediate custodial sentence.

He received a 27-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must complete 250 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified from driving for four years and ordered to pay £1,630 in costs.

Passing sentence, Judge Celia Hughes said: “Sharon Berry was simply sitting in her car by the roadside that day. Her death was completely senseless in every aspect of the word.”

The judge added: “No sentence I can pass can bring Mrs Berry back or lessen the pain experienced by her family and friends.”

The court heard that Dowling had been able to buy the Maserati through the success of his business, which installed specialist flooring in shopping centres and stadiums across Britain.

Since the collision, he has become his wife’s full-time carer. Kim Dowling required several operations after suffering a fractured neck and punctured lung.

Dowling had been driving his friend Jane Beedell to a hospital appointment when the crash happened. She suffered numerous injuries, including fractures to her neck and back and a brain haemorrhage.

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In a victim impact statement, Ms Beedell said she now depends on care and was forced to leave her Civil Service career after 48 years because of the lasting effects of her injuries.

Mrs Berry’s family said she had been looking forward to becoming a grandmother when she died and remembered her as someone who was “full of love and laughter”.

Her son Luke said: “There are countless times when I have picked up my phone wanting to call my mum, whether to share good news, ask her advice or simply hear her voice, then the reality hits that she is no longer there and the loss feels as painful as ever.”

Lorraine Ashton, Mrs Berry’s sister, described the mother-of-two’s time in hospital as a period of “hope, fear and uncertainty”.

She said: “We desperately wanted her to recover but she never came home. Memories of those weeks will stay with me forever.

“The pain of losing her is something I carry with me every day. Her death has affected every part of my life. There will always be an empty space, an empty place, where Sharon should be.”

Dowling, from Caerphilly, is said to suffer with PTSD, anxiety and sleep problems due to the effects of the crash and is now the carer for his wife. 

He admitted causing death by careless driving and two charges of causing serious injury by careless driving at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.  

David Whittaker, defending, said: ‘His remorse is genuine. He has not suffered in the way the families of Jane Beedell and Sharon Berry’s have but every time he looks at his wife, every day, he is reminded of what he did.’

Ms Hughes, the judge, added: ‘In the seconds before the impact you were speeding at over 70 miles per hour for three seconds before the impact with the parked car.

‘You were doing 50mph at the impact after aquaplaning in standing water on the dual carriageway following several downpours of biblical proportions that day.

‘Your careless driving, speeding in terrible road conditions has had devastating consequences for all the people who have attended court today and no doubt more widely too.

‘The consequences of your behaviour will, and frankly should, live with you forever.’

Russell Brand was portrayed in court as a ruthless alleged sexual predator with a “voracious” appetite for sex, who pursued an ambition to sleep with 5,000 women, jurors were told today.

Prosecutors described the comedian and actor as a calculated, manipulative alleged rapist who spent a decade assaulting women and viewing them as a way to fulfil what they called his “insatiable desire”.

Brand, 51, denies three rape charges, three counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault involving six women between 1999 and 2009.

At the opening of the high-profile trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, jurors heard that the “child-like” television star allegedly used comedy and charm to draw women in. He was said to perform silly walks, likened to Basil Fawlty, before allegedly attacking his victims “like an animal”.

The court heard that Brand, a married father of two, regularly boasted about his sexual success, describing himself as an “expert pick-up artist”, a womaniser and a ladies’ man. Prosecutors said he spoke of wanting to “bed 5,000 women in my lifetime” and claimed: “All you have to do is tell them what they need to hear.”

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, prosecuting, told jurors that Brand would mock women who rejected him, suggesting they were being a “spoilsport” by refusing his advances.

She said: “The defendant was not deterred. His desire for some form of sexual contact was indiscriminate and voracious.

“He could be kind when he chose, funny, undoubtedly charming and likeable whenever he wanted something in return.

“But he was also demanding and entitled, a flirt with an enormous sexual appetite, and childlike in expecting every desire to be satisfied.

“He was ruthless, calculated and manipulative, and the prosecution says he was a sexual predator.”

Jurors heard that as Brand’s acting career advanced and he became a Hollywood star, his celebrity status allegedly allowed him to carry out sexual attacks openly. One woman’s complaint was reportedly dismissed by television executives.

Friends allegedly described Brand as “rampant in his desire to score sex”, with what prosecutors characterised as an “insatiable desire” to get what he wanted from whoever he wanted, treating women “as if they were nothing”.

The first alleged incident is said to have taken place in 1999, involving a woman attending the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth.

Prosecutors allege that Brand took the woman to a hotel room after meeting her at a show where he had been performing.

The woman was reportedly surprised to discover Brand partly undressed and “prancing around the room”, performing silly walks compared in court to an ostrich and Basil Fawlty.

Brand allegedly told her: “It’s OK, it’s just how I am, don’t worry. I’m mostly naked at home,” before asking her to take photographs of him posing topless, the court heard.

 Ms Karmy-Jones said Brand pushed the woman onto the bed and raped her.

The prosecutor said: ‘She remembers the weight of him on top of her, she couldn’t move, and was finding it hard to breathe, but recalls trying not to let him kiss her, and saying ‘no’.

‘She was scared. He groped her, was touching her, he grabbed her breasts, he was trying to kiss her, he was putting his fingers in her mouth and doing things with his tongue that were horrible, lizard-like.’

Afterwards, Brand is alleged to have made excuses for how quick things had been before claiming he had to get back to his mother, leaving the victim crying in shock.

Brand’s former friend Mark Pinheiro told jurors that the comedian had rushed to leave the area, ‘cowering’ in the back seat of a car when he heard police sirens.

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Later, the defendant allegedly told Mr Pinheiro: ‘I think I may have gone a bit too far.’

Two years later, a ‘desperate wild-eyed’ Brand is accused of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet cubicle after she complimented him on his t-shirt.

In 2004 he is alleged to have orally raped a woman at a bar after groping her within minutes of them meeting during a birthday party.

The former Big Brother presenter is said to have told the woman, ‘Oh come on don’t be a spoilsport’ when she protested to him, ‘I don’t want to do this.’

Brand is accused of carrying out a fourth attack on a woman at a radio station around 2004.

The court heard he grabbed the victim in her 20s, pushed her up against a wall and kissed her ‘sloppily and aggressively’, grabbing the woman’s breasts and buttocks during a ‘rough, fast and frenzied’ assault.

When he was pushed off, Brand sniggered ‘like it was a joke’, jurors heard.

The prosecutor said: ‘These women meant nothing to him.’

A fifth victim met Brand backstage following a Hammersmith Apollo gig in 2009 after he allegedly told the audience: ‘You probably can have sex with me… My age range is from 16 to death.’

The starstruck fan said she was selected to take part in a ‘threesome’ from a queue of women.

The following day, the 21-year-old woman was invited to the home of Brand, who was then 33.

He allegedly anally raped her, shoving her face into a pillow as she begged him to stop before ordering her to ‘clean up the mess you have made’.

The traumatised woman later received an apology by text after she told Brand: ‘You treated me like an animal,’ the court heard.

The final alleged victim, a Channel 4 worker, claims she was sexually assaulted in 2009 after being told by his entourage to give Brand a massage.

Mr Pinheiro told jurors that Brand had ‘boasted’ of wanting to sleep with 5,000 women and shared his tips for ‘pulling girls’.

During a preview of Brand’s 2013 comedy show Messiah Complex, Brand allegedly told him: ‘What you are about to see is some real rock and roll s***.’

The star is then said to have selected girls lined up against a wall, taking each to the toilets for 10 minutes.

The prosecutor said: ‘His MO [modus operandi] was varied. Sometimes he might tell women what they wanted to hear, sometimes he might have appeared interested in their cause, sometimes he might even have made sexual advances within minutes of meeting them, but every time he had identified his target, he was intent on trying to fulfil his sexual desire.’

One friend, Andrew Dobson, said simply: ‘Women and sex were a goal and an obsession.’

The six alleged victims only came forward in 2025 after claims of sexual misconduct were reported in a newspaper and TV documentary.

During interviews, Brand told police that all his sexual contact was consensual.

He said he could not recall his accusers and claimed they had ‘reimagined’ the encounters.

Today, Brand, of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, sat in the dock dressed in a black suit and tightly clutching a silver cross in his right hand. He showed no emotion as the details of the charges were read out.

The trial continues.

Prince William said he was “blown away” by a group of young people he described as the next generation of Black leaders.

The future king met scholars and alumni of The Amos Bursary, a charity supporting high-achieving young people of African and Caribbean heritage from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds. Its assistance extends from school and university through to the start of their working lives.

Among those he met was Joseph Simeon, 29, an investment banker based in New York. Simeon told William that many people his age from a similar background were either “dead or in prison”, but that The Amos Bursary had helped him build a far more successful future.

Like other alumni, Simeon received financial support and mentoring from the organisation. He was so passionate about its impact that he travelled to the event to speak with William—even though he was due to get married the following day.

“Tomorrow? You shouldn’t be here!” an astonished William replied. “There are other conversations you should be having. Shouldn’t you be preparing your speech?”

Simeon later said: “I told him that’s how much The Amos Bursary has meant to me. I am now a mentor myself and will take any opportunity to spread the word.”

He added: “This is a topic very close to my heart. While we should, of course, focus on lifting the bottom up, we should also look at lifting the glass ceiling at the top. It’s great to have progress, but we need to make sure the top is being raised too, so people can challenge that glass ceiling. It is then our moral duty to pay it back down to others.”

“We are all very grateful for the support it has given us and for the prince being here today,” Simeon said. “The Amos Bursary has been transformative to my life.”

Organised during Black History Month and Black Enterprise Week, the event was held at Urban MBA in Hoxton, east London. The co-working space helps marginalised young people through education and mentoring.

The Amos Bursary was founded in 2009 by Guyanese-British politician Baroness Valerie Amos and her sister, Coleen Amos OBE. The charity provides direct support to around 50 young people from London and the East Midlands each year, while a further 300 receive online advice and mentoring.

William was welcomed by Coleen Amos, who explained the charity’s aims before introducing him to groups of supporters, many of whom were alumni themselves.

The group included television presenter June Sarpong, who has worked with William before and has supported the charity since its foundation.

Sarpong said the bursary was powerful because it produced tangible results. “When you look at the success rate with young people, it’s extraordinary,” she said. “This is one of the best.”

She added that the programme enabled young people from a wide range of backgrounds, particularly underrepresented communities, to reach their potential and contribute to Britain. “It’s wonderful,” she said.

“It’s full circle,” William remarked.

Downstairs, the prince spoke with Kofi Oppong, founder of Urban MBA. Oppong is particularly focused on giving young people access to artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, including laser printing.

He said: ‘Things are changing and quickly. If we don’t reskill and upskill quickly, a generation will lose out.’

‘Do you feel there is going to be a big sea change for people who are graduating now?’ the prince asked.

‘It gives you a bit of hope but also a bit of worry.

‘Perspective is crucial. To see how the rest of the world works.

‘It comes down to leadership and leadership in schools, teachers and the impact they have.’

He was shown how to operate the laser printer and given gifts of a card holder and vase they had made, as well as being shown a prototype trainer.

‘It’s amazing, that’s incredible,’ he said.

In a round table meeting with The Amos Bursary alumni – including an Oxford graduate, a trainee barrister, an investment banker and a business owner – the prince listened to story after story of hope.

Sitting down he joked to laughs: ‘High achievers…which is the kind of vibe I am getting!

‘How important has to been for you guys to be in the bursary? Has it been pivotal.’

‘Yes, one hundred per cent,’ he was told.

‘Having an Amos Bursary in every part of society would be fantastic,’ the prince said.

‘But what would you guys like to see that would allow more young people more opportunities. As someone said to me, talent is everywhere, opportunities aren’t. How do we bridge that gap so that more people can get the chance to show their talents?

‘What were the challenges you guys were facing when you started in employment.’

Before he left the prince posed for a picture with the lively group of supporters, alumni and young talent.

There were cheers for the royal and fair bit of joking about football, particularly when Stephen Brooks, regional director in the West Midlands, said: ‘We’ve all been talking about how great Aston Villa are doing!’

‘Champions League tonight!’ William shouted, to jokey calls of ‘Arsenal!’

‘Let’s not distract the prince on football,’ the photographer joked.

Xavier Hamilton, 34, one of the first young people helped by The Amos Bursary back in 2009, said: ‘It’s phenomenal he was here. It’s a future king and privately he said he wanted to continue to help and support us. It’s amazing to hear.’

The death of an eight-year-old girl could have been prevented, a coroner has found, after criticising the response of a doctor at a Melbourne emergency department.

Amrita Varshini Lanka’s parents nodded through tears as Victoria’s Deputy State Coroner Paresa Spanos delivered her findings on Wednesday.

Amrita died at Monash Medical Centre’s paediatric emergency department on April 30, 2022, after suffering lymphocytic myocarditis — an inflammation of the heart muscle.

She had arrived at the emergency department at about 1pm the previous day after experiencing two days of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

Initial tests ruled out appendicitis, and doctors proceeded on the assumption that she had gastroenteritis.

However, in the early hours of the following morning, Amrita’s mother, Satya Tarapureddi, told staff her daughter was suffering chest pain and struggling to breathe.

An electrocardiogram was performed at about 3.30am, roughly 30 minutes later. The abnormal result prompted emergency department registrar Patrick Tan to suspect myocarditis.

A colleague consulted by Dr Tan agreed with that initial assessment.

But Coroner Spanos said neither doctor appeared to recognise how seriously ill Amrita was.

Her blood pressure was not checked at that point, while other test results showed an elevated lactate level — a warning sign that her condition was deteriorating.

Despite those indicators, Dr Tan concluded that Amrita did not appear seriously unwell and did not review her again until about 5.30am, when her health had clearly declined.

Her treatment was then escalated to senior doctors and specialist teams, but she suffered a brief cardiac arrest at approximately 7.30am.

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An urgent transfer to the Royal Children’s Hospital was arranged. The retrieval team arrived at around 8.51am, by which time Amrita had entered a prolonged cardiac arrest.

Despite continued resuscitation attempts, doctors were unable to save her.

During an inquest held in 2024, Monash Health acknowledged that staff had failed to understand the seriousness of the child’s condition.

On Wednesday, Ms Spanos formally ruled that Amrita’s death was preventable.

‘Certainly by about (4am), when the ECG had been completed and the elevated lactate was available, Amrita’s life could have been saved,’ the coroner said in her findings.

Ms Spanos was also critical of Dr Tan’s actions as the emergency department registrar.

‘While I accept that EDs are busy places and Dr Tan was a relatively junior doctor with many responsibilities, the clinical management and care he provided to Amrita was wanting,’ the coroner said.

‘(His actions) thereby caused or contributed to her death.’

The coroner did not make any formal recommendations, instead commending Monash Health for undertaking an internal review following Amrita’s death.

Ms Spanos acknowledged the hospital had implemented a series of changes as a result, including requiring emergency department clinicians to notify on-call consultants in specific cases.

The coroner, who at times appeared to hold back tears while reading her findings, offered her condolences to Amrita’s parents seated in the courtroom.