Teenager sentenced to four years detention for fatal crash in Netherton
63 year old David Francis was killed in the crash
Last updated 30th Jun 2023
A teenager has been sentenced to four years in prison following a fatal crashg in Netherton earlier this year.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that on the evening of Thursday 13th April, a black Audi S8 car had knocked down a man and then crashed into a house on Morgan Mews.
Sadly the pedestrian, 63-year-old David Francis from Litherland, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Audi S8 worth around £100,000 was stolen in a burglary in the early hours of that day in the Harrison Drive area of Rainford.
17-year-old Lewis Wright, a long term cannabis user, went the wrong way round a small roundabout after flooring the accelerator and smashed into guard rails striking amateur athlete David Francis.
The 63-year-old was crushed between the front of the car and a low garden wall before the car ploughed through the front garden, demolishing trees and colliding with the house.
It came to rest protruding through the wall of the lounge where the occupants were watching TV. “Mr Francis was horribly injured, perhaps almost dead, by this time,” said Ian Harris, prosecuting.
Wright, who had been driving at about three times the speed limit at between 54 and 62 mph before the crash, climbed from the wreckage and fled, only handing himself in to police six days later after his picture appeared in the local media.
Sentencing him to four years detention, Judge Andrew Menary, KC, the Recorder of Liverpool, said a crash was inevitable, given the speed he was going at:
“Tragically you not only hit a lot of things you also hit someone, David Francis. He was walking or running on the pavement at this junction when you mowed him down. There is no other description for it.
“Mr Francis stood no chance of survival at all and the catalogue of multiple injuries meant he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. You got out and ran away.”
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Wright, who has committed a string of previous offences, claims he did not know he had struck anyone. Judge Menary said that might be accurate but he must have found out soon after as it was in the local press and the talk of the local community.
He said he had been more interested in saving himself than in the carnage he had caused. The judge also dismissed as “nonsense” his claims that the brakes had failed to respond when he repeatedly pumped them.
“The simple fact is you were behind the wheel of a fancy and powerful car with no licence to drive and never passed a test. You choose to accelerate furiously along this residential road in a car you did not know.”
Judge Menary told the defendant, who showed no emotion, that “this type of arrogant driving of these stolen cars, that is seen too often, is designed to intimidate communities. Tragically Mr Francis paid a terrible price for this selfish behaviour.
“He was a fit, healthy and vibrant man with many years of active life ahead of him. He had a large loving family, living with his elderly mother, assisting with her care and she died shortly after with her heart undoubtedly and utterly broken.”
The judge added that the victim was “an outstanding amateur athlete affectionately given the name the ‘Litherland Running Man.”
Mr Francis’ nephew Lewis Francis said that his uncle had been a private religious man who would run 30 or 40 miles a night bare chested. He said he had spoken to champion boxers who described him as fitter than them.
Wright, of Howard Florey Avenue, Netherton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, without insurance and without a licence. He also admitted unlawfully taking the car.
Judge Menary, who banned him from driving for seven years, told him, “You must have quite deliberately floored the accelerator to achieve the speed you did in the distance covered before the collision. This car was by then going like a rocket.
“You chose to perform an obviously dangerous manoeuvre, attempting to drive the wrong way round a roundabout. You deliberately decided to ignore the rules of the road with no regard for others.”
He said that Wright, who has ADHD, had been exposed to drug taking at home and had been smoking cannabis for years and involved in criminal activity with others, including county lines drug activity. He was subject of a conditional discharge and youth referral order at the time of the incident.
“Your home life has not always been ideal and your schooling has been chaotic.”
Joanne Maxwell, defending, said that Wright, who is 18 on Tuesday, “expresses his remorse and shame for his actions and consequences of his actions.”
She said that following his previous convictions the youth justice team had been working with him to disengage from negative peer group pressure to which he was vulnerable.
Speaking about the verdict, Detective Inspector Jay Halpin said:
“This was truly a horrific incident in which an innocent member of the public was tragically killed by a stolen car, which shocked the community.
“The victim, David, was very well-known in the area and would regularly be seen doing what he loved which was running and he was affectionately known as the ‘Litherland Running Man’.
“Nobody can begin to understand the impact and the circumstances of David’s sudden death has had on his family and friends, but I hope that this conviction will give them a sense of justice.
“Also hope that Wright reflects his time in prison of the fatal consequences and distress he has caused to David’s family.”