PSYCHOLOGY student Vicky Spear contributed to her own death in a collision with a taxi, said a judge at Manchester Magistrates Court.
The 20-year-old was under the influence of drink when she was struck crossing a busy road with a friend at four o’clock in the morning in March last year.
Vicky, of Grimshaw Street, Great Harwood, was thrown into the air. She sustained a non-survivable head injury and died in hospital three days later.
But District Judge Tim Devas ruled that driver Raja Ahmed, 49, should have seen her and convicted him of driving without due care and attention.
Ahmed, of Devon Road, Cadishead, pleaded not guilty. He claimed the girls had emerged from behind another taxi, giving him no time to avoid hitting Vicky.
The prosecution had conceded that when the girls began to cross the road near a pelican crossing in Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield, the lights were against them.
Judge Devas said he was satisfied Ahmed had been travelling in excess of the 30mph limit and should have spotted Vicky and taken evasive action.
"But it’s my view Vicky contributed to the collision that tragically cost her her life," said the judge.
"She was clearly under the influence of alcohol which could have impaired her concentration and road sense.
"However, I think Ahmed departed from the standard of a reasonable and competent driver."
Ahmed was fined £250 with £300 costs and his licence was endorsed with six points.
"I don’t think I need to ban you from driving," concluded the judge.
Vicky was in her second year at the city’s university and living in a flat in the Fallowfield area.
She and four friends had been drinking before and after attending a Lily Allen concert in Manchester.
The group ended up in a kebab shop and just before the tragedy she had been play- fighting and fell over on the pavement, the court heard.
