Two men have pleaded guilty to charges of aiding and abetting dangerous driving after an accident in 2016 that left a visually impaired woman from Falmouth in hospital for months. 

Gavin Morris Bentley, 40, of Cannock in Staffordshire, the director of Midland Poling Services, the company which owned the lorry involved in the crash and Paul O'Toole, 50, also of Cannock, employed as a supervisor at the company, changed their not guilty pleas at the start of their trial at Truro Crown Court on Monday.

The accident happened on September 2, 2016 as Kay Kitto loaded her car on Oakfield Road as she prepared to go on holiday with her family. 
Kay, who is registered blind and has a guide dog called Jackie, was struck by a DAF van after it was hit by the lorry driven by Paul Ince from the company.

She suffered a fractured spine, femur, tibia, fibula, and knee, and also required skin grafts and had contusions to her head. Her guide dog Jackie was also affected after being thrown from the boot of the car. Her son Dex, and husband Nigel witnessed the accident.

When it was checked the lorry involved was found to have 18 faults, and was described by an expert as one of the "top ten worst" he had seen in 30 years. 

Bentley and O'Toole had originally been charged with aiding and abetting serious injury by dangerous driving but this was then changed to the new charge to which they plead guilty. They will be sentenced at Truro Crown Court on Friday. Judge Robert Linford told the pair that the sentencing would include a financial penalty. 

The driver Ince, 47, of Leyland, Lancashire, plead guilty at Truro Magistrates's Court last year to causing injury by dangerous driving and driving without due care and attention. He will be sentenced on either Friday, April 13 or Tuesday, April 17.

In a victim impact statement read out at the time, Kay Kitto told magistrates about the accident saying: "It's destroyed me, and I barely recognise who I am."