Ryhope fatal crash: Innocent Oliver Idokoh pleads guilty to negligent driving in fatal crash that killed Trent Heffernan

Innocent Oliver Idokoh, 41, pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning death in Toronto Local Court this week.

On the day of the crash, November 29, 2020, Idokoh had just finished a double shift at a disability home in East Maitland about 6:50am.

He was on the way to meet his wife and kids at Fennel Bay, unfamiliar with the route he made the fatal mistake of propping his phone GPS up on the dashboard behind the steering wheel.

Idokoh drove for about 15 minutes before he turned off the Pacific Highway onto Wakefield Road.

At the same time he approached a bend in the road, Mr Heffernan was driving his Hyundai Getz in the opposite direction.

Police facts show that because of the bend in the road, the two drivers would have only become visible to one another when they were 150m apart - just three seconds between them.

As Idokoh came onto the bend he checked the location on his GPS, becoming distracted and drifting into Mr Heffernan's lane.

By the time he looked up the collision was imminent, both drivers slamming on their brakes before they tragically hit head-on.

Both cars were seriously damaged, leaving Idokoh and Mr Heffernan trapped in their vehicles.

Idokoh was dragged from his car with a broken ankle, jaw and a fracture in his neck, but tragically Mr Heffernan suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene.

On Tuesday, the court heard Idokoh had no prior criminal history and two driving incidents on his record.

The more serious charge of dangerous driving occasioning death was dropped and his trial vacated in Newcastle last week.

A back-up charge of not keeping left of the dividing line was also withdrawn on Tuesday.

Idokoh's case will return to court in May.

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