12 Years For Hit & Run Death Driver
Sophie Brannan was killed when car mounted the pavement in Maryhill
A "madman" driver who killed an 11-year-old girl in a hit and run crash while under the influence of drugs has been jailed for 12 years and four months. Christopher Hannah, 33, was also banned from driving for life when he was sentenced at the High Court in Livingston today. Judge Lord Bannatyne told him it was tragic that he had taken a young life away and that Sophie Brannan's family would never get over her death. Family and friends of Sophie attended court to hear Hannah's fate - many of them wearing pink t-shirts bearing the words "Sop" and "Justice". None of them was prepared to comment on the sentence afterwards. The judge reminded Hannah how the hired Vauxhall Astra Hannah he was driving had mounted the pavement and struck Sophie in Sandbank Street, Maryhill, on 14 November last year. Her friend Chelsea Sommerville, 10, and Chelsea's uncle, Joseph Lloyd, were also badly injured. Witnesses claimed Hannah, said to be a heroin addict, was "under the influence of some substance" at the time of the accident. He lost control of the car and fully mounted the pavement before hitting the gable end of a nearby building. The car continued to career forward eventually ploughing into Sophie and the two people with her from behind. They were thrown onto the bonnet, windscreen and roof of the vehicle before falling onto the ground." More witnesses saw Hannah speed onto nearby Maryhill Road with his badly-dented car being "driven erratically". He then crashed into a taxi whose driver decided to follow Hannah, who eventually stopped a short distance away before running away. He later admitted he had "driven like a madman" and that he thought he had hit a wheelie bin...but didn't hang about to find out. Sophie was taken by ambulance to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children at Yorkhill where she was found to have swelling to her brain, several fractures and broken bones. She remained in intensive care overnight but was pronounced dead on the morning of 15 November. The court heard that Chelsea suffered a serious leg break which will require long-term physiotherapy. Her leg was still in plaster several months after the tragedy. Chelsea's uncle also suffered a number of fractures, and eventually required surgery. He is likely to suffer "long-term restriction" of movement in his right shoulder. The accused told cops in a phone call later the same day: "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to do it. "It was a total accident. I lost control of the car and I panicked." As well as culpable homicide, Hannah also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, attempting to defeat the ends of justice and possessing heroin. It emerged he already had 14 previous convictions for crimes including having an offensive weapon and road traffic charges. He was on bail at the time.