A newly qualified paramedic died when the ambulance she was travelling in took a wrong turn and crashed into a cement lorry, a court has heard.

Alice Clark, 21, had been working in the role for two months before the tragic incident in January 2022.

Now, ambulance driver Edward Riding, 45, has pleaded guilty to causing his colleague’s death by driving carelessly on the A21.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Riding, of Kemps Farm Road, Crowborough, was reacting to an emergency when he was diverted and took the wrong turn, before hitting a kerb causing the ambulance to veer across the road.

Ms Clark, from Newington, near Sittingbourne, was a former pupil of Rainham Mark Grammar School.

She went to the University of Greenwich to study to become a paramedic, graduating in July 2021.

Ms Clark had joined the South East Coast Ambulance Service just two months before the fatal crash in November.

She was one of three paramedics travelling in the ambulance at the time of the crash. It was not taking a patient to hospital at the time.

Riding was airlifted to Kings College Hospital in London with multiple injuries.

Now, he has been given an interim driving ban until he is sentenced on April 17. He was remanded on bail while probation produce a report.

In February, a few weeks after the crash, Alice’s colleagues lined the street as they paid their respects to the “beautiful and kind” paramedic.

Student paramedic Megan Kuhn, who was in the back, suffered head injuries. The driver of a cement lorry also involved in the crash suffered minor injuries. The road was closed for several hours while crash investigations took place.

Alice’s heartbroken parents previously paid tribute to her and said she had loved working for the ambulance service.

They said: "Alice was so excited to qualify as a paramedic and looked forward to every shift.

"She was a beautiful, kind, fun-loving daughter, sister and granddaughter. She loved to travel. Anyone who met her loved her.

"She will be missed more than words can say by family and friends."