A DRIVER has appeared in court charged with the death of a woman after a crash near Banbury.

Caroline Gillies, 70, died after a car crash on the A3361Bloxham Road at about 5.45pm on May 9 last year.

The crash involved a grey Maza MX-5 and a black Vauxhall Corsa. The occupants of the Corsa suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

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Hew Stantiford, 20, appeared in Oxford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (January 23) charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

The case was adjourned and sent to Oxford Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on February 22 at 10.30am.

Stantiford, of Paradise Terrace, Chipping Norton, will remain on bail until this hearing.

Mrs Gillies lived in Bloxham and was married to her husband, Hugh Giles. The couple has three children.

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She was a retired doctor who worked at the Oxfordshire Blood Transfusion Service as well as being a membership secretary of the Banbury Fine Art Society and a keen supporter of activities at St Mary’s Church, Bloxham.

Thames Valley Police at the time of the incident released a statement appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Darren Brown of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Sadly, a woman has died following this collision and our thoughts are with her loved ones.”