A JURY has gone out to decide whether a woman fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a recovery truck killing the mechanic as he worked at the roadside.

The case has also been adjourned until Monday.

Prosecutors claim there is no other explanation as to why Susan Lowe, 62, came off a dual carriageway at night and continued in a straight line along a verge for 50 metres and took no evasive action.

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Terry Booth, 58, of Ferndown, who was trying to restart a Peugeot 306 which had broken down on the A31 at Poulner Hill near Ringwood, died of multiple injuries in the collision on June 12, 2008.

Lowe's defence claim it was an accident caused by being blinded by the bright white lights of the recovery truck and other traffic, which caused her to panic and hit the accelerator pedal rather than the brake.

They said she could not have fallen asleep because of the things she saw and told police in interview in the hours after the incident.

Lowe, who was travelling to her home in Gypsy Mead, Leeds, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

The jury at Southampton Crown Court were also invited to consider a lesser charge of careless driving.