Disqualified driver with string of convictions admits causing death of young Corby mum Courtney Donnelly

Steven Michael Gaskell, 30, will be sentenced in the new year after admitting causing the death of Courtney Donnelly while driving while disqualified. Image: Facebook / Alison Bagley Photography

A Corby man who was disqualified from driving when he got behind the wheel of a Mini has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a ‘fantastic mummy.’

Courtney Donnelly, 23, died in the crash while Gaskell was driving on the A427 on September 17. Following her death, her mum said that she was ‘completely and utterly devastated’.

Courtney had a young daughter, Lily-Mae, and was described as a ‘fun-loving girl’.

Courtney Donnelly, 23, from Corby, died during a crash on the A427 at Brampton Ash.

Steven Michael Gaskell, 30, who is from Corby but most recently lived in King Street, Kettering, admitted all three charges against him when he appeared at Northampton Crown Court this morning (Wednesday, November 8).

He pleaded guilty to driving without insurance, to causing the death of Ms Donnelly while disqualified from driving and without insurance, and to supplying cannabis between April and September this year.

Wearing a grey tracksuit, Gaskell appeared via videolink from prison where he will be held until his sentencing in the new year. He spoke only to enter three guilty pleas.

Gaskell has a long string of convictions under his belt including offences of public order, acquiring criminal property, attempting to drive under the influence of alcohol along with several charges of driving while disqualified during the past 13 years.

In March last year he pleaded guilty to driving a car while disqualified, without insurance and with no MOT in Westcott Way, Corby, and was given a community order.

And in May this year he again admitted driving while disqualified on the A14 and was given a suspended sentence, which he was still subject to when he committed the latest offence which ended in the tragic death of Courtney Donnelly.

He was the only man ever charged with an offence in connection with the unsolved murder of the nightclub boss Les Ross. Gaskell was accused of burgling the home of the Mr Ross in the days before he was found dead in a hotel in the old village. The burglary – considered to be a ‘warning’ – caused Mr Ross to flee his home and move into a hotel where he was ultimately killed.