Woman left dying in street by 'cowardly' driver
Family handoutA "cowardly" hit and run driver who left a "true diamond" of a mother dying in the street after he hit her at more than twice the speed limit has been jailed.
Reece Roberts, 27, was already banned from driving when he struck 59-year-old Diane Jones as she crossed a road following a night out in Sunderland on Valentine's Day, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Her daughter said her "little mam" was utterly beloved and she hoped Roberts would be "haunted" by her for the rest of his life.
Roberts, who had previously been jailed for seriously injuring someone in a hit and run crash, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for 10 years and eight months.
Ms Jones was crossing the A690 Durham Road in Sunderland at about 22:30 GMT on 14 February when she was hit by a black Volvo XC90 being driven at "grossly excessive speed" by Roberts, prosecutor Omar Ahmad said.
Moments earlier several people had seen the car, which belonged to Roberts' partner, being driven erratically and dangerously, with the car speeding and undertaking a taxi on a roundabout, the court heard.
Northumbria PoliceInvestigators estimated the car was travelling at 77mph on the 30mph road seconds before Ms Jones was struck, the court heard.
She was dragged about 190ft (58m) down the road and suffered "catastrophic" torso injuries, dying in the road despite the best efforts of passersby to help her, Ahmad said.
Roberts did not brake or make any attempt to stop and drove away at speed, the court heard, with him handing himself into police the following day and revealing where he had hidden the badly damaged car.
Drugs were found in his system but prosecutors could not say whether he was under the influence of them at the time of the crash, although he admitted to police he had not taken any substances since the collision.
Ms Jones' daughter told the court her mother was the "most kind-hearted and fun-loving woman", who was "small, funny and caring" with the "heart and fight of a lion".
She was a "real force to be reckoned with and a "true diamond", the court heard, and was "missed in every single moment of every single day".
Addressing Roberts directly, Ms Jones' daughter asked how he could sleep at night or look his own mother in the face knowing he had "left [her] mam lying in the road like a worthless piece of meat".
She said no sentence would satisfy the family and it filled her with rage to think Roberts would one day be free and able to spend time with his own family when he had stolen her mother's life.
"How is it fair by the time you reach your 40s you get to live a normal life?" she said, adding: "I really hope she haunts you for the rest of your days."
The court heard Roberts, of Tudor Grove, had been jailed for two and half years and banned from driving for almost seven years, with a requirement to pass an extended test, in 2020 after causing serious injury by dangerous driving in February 2019.
The victim suffered "serious life-changing injuries" when Roberts struck them in an Audi A6 at between 40 and 50mph in a 30mph zone.
He had been banned from driving at the time, was uninsured and made off at up to 70mph, the court heard.
He also had a conviction for blackmail after he demanded £15,000 from a person following a fire at a farm and escaped from police by driving over a wall, Ahmad said.
Judge Tim Gittins said "arrogant and selfish" Roberts was a fatal accident waiting to happen.
He said Ms Jones was "wholly blameless" and "stood no chance", with Roberts ripping the heart and "diamond at the centre of the ring" out of her family.
She was a "caring, selfless and courageous lady" who was the "very opposite" of Roberts, who had fled in a "cowardly and callous" attempt to save himself, the judge said.
Ms Jones had still had "much life to enjoy and much love to give and receive," the judge said.
Gittins said Roberts was a "dangerous" offender and would have to serve a further five years years on extended licence upon his release from prison.
Roberts was also banned from driving for 20 years and one month.
