Minesh Parbat, 35, appeared at Lewes Crown Court last Friday (January 9) to enter a plea to a charge of causing death by dangerous driving. He pleaded not guilty.
Parbat was driving a BMW Z3 sports car in which Miss Watling was a passenger when it careered off Crawley Avenue, between the Tushmore and Hazelwick roundabouts, and crashed into a fence at about 1.40am on March 9 last year.
Miss Watling, a 28-year-old mother-of-two, from Kestrel Close, in Langley Green, who worked at Rush hair salon, in the town centre, died later that day from her injuries.
Parbat, from Gregory Close in Maidenbower, previously faced a separate charge of drink-driving as well during the same incident.
However, the court heard the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had decided to put forward a single indictment and include the drink-driving accusation as part of the evidence during the trial.
Parbat, from Gregory Close in Maidenbower, was released on conditional bail, with conditions not to go to Graffham Close, in Ifield, and not to contact a number of individuals.He is due to return to Lewes Crown Court on July 13 for trial.
