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Rugeley driver, 32, who fled fatal crash scene is jailed

A hit-and-run driver who knocked down a pensioner who later died from her injuries has been jailed for six months.

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School caretaker Richard Thompson fled from the scene in his BMW after hitting 79-year-old Brenda Davies on a lights-controlled junction used by pedestrians, Stafford Crown Court heard.

Mrs Davies suffered 'catastrophic' injuries, including a fractured skull and the amputation of a leg, and died in hospital at Cannock almost two months later.

Thompson, who had his three children with him in the car at the time, left the scene along Western Springs Road towards Stafford. He arrived at work five minutes late, but then said he felt ill and went home.

A clue to the vehicle involved in the collision was a BMW wing mirror left in the road.

Thompson, aged 32, of Shaftesbury Road, Rugeley, admitted causing Mrs Davies's death by careless driving, failing to stop and failing to report an accident.

Judge Simon Tonking said the effect on Mrs Davies's son, Ian Mancor, watching his mother deteriorate over a period of seven weeks had been 'shattering and devastating'.

Mr Nick Burn, prosecuting, said the collision occurred around 7.30am on December 3, 2012, when Mrs Davies was fetching her newspaper.

"It's plain she had entered the crossing when the defendant's vehicle, travelling in the Stafford direction, was in collision with her."

One witness described a black BMW 'screaming round the bend towards me'.

Thompson initially went to his sister's to drop off his children and then went to work. Even after going home sick, he took no steps to notify the police.

He later went on to the internet to check if there were any automatic traffic surveillance systems on the Western Springs road.

Thompson was arrested and later admitted he was the driver, but that he was unaware he had struck a person and he thought it was an animal.

Mrs Davies had been and fit and well lady until she sustained severe injuries in the collision. She was taken to hospital and received prompt medical treatment but died on 28 January last year.

Mr Steve Hennessey, defending, said: "He simply didn't see Mrs Davies."

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