WATCH: The moment Northumbria police arrest a woman in connection with the death of 10 year old Melissa Tate

The girlfriend and sister of a dangerous driver who mowed down and killed a 10-year-old school girl have been convicted of lying to police as he attempted to evade arrest.

Connor Marsden was jailed for seven years and four months in December 2019 after pleading guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of Melissa Tate outside the child’s home in Kenton.

Newcastle Crown Court was told how Marsden, then 24, had downed two pints of beer before getting into his vehicle in September 2019.

He was caught on CCTV driving at high speeds through residential streets in the middle of the afternoon before he struck 10-year-old Melissa and fled the area on foot.

Now his girlfriend Amanda Teulon, 32, and his sister Stephanie McGlen, 29, have been sentenced at court after admitting that they helped him try and cover his tracks in the moments after the collision.

The court was told how CCTV cameras captured Marsden running into Teulon’s home in the minutes after hitting Melissa before fleeing a short time later.

Police saw the footage and visited the address but when they confronted the mother-of-two she refused to tell them Marsden’s name and said nobody else had been at her home.

Both she and McGlen refused to co-operate with police – with prosecutors telling the court that they “deliberately lied” to officers which “impacted the investigation at a crucial stage”.

The pair both admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice and on Wednesday they were each hand a 12-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years.

Following the case Sergeant Ray Lowery, of Northumbria Police, condemned the actions of the two women and welcomed the court convictions.

He said: “This was a tragic case that rocked an entire community and robbed a family of a bright, kind and smart young girl in Melissa.

“Her family’s lives will never be the same but her memory has lived on and her case continues to act as a warning about the consequences of dangerous driving.

“Amanda Teulon and Stephanie McGlen were part of that community and were fully aware of what had happened but they chose not to help police.

“They hindered our investigation and allowed Connor Marsden to evade police for more than 20 hours, by which point any alcohol that could have been in his system had disappeared.

“Amanda is a mother-of-six but she has shown no remorse for her actions and pleaded guilty because of the overwhelming evidence that we gathered against her.

“No sentence could ever be enough for such callous behaviour but these two women will have to live with their actions on their conscience for the rest of their lives.”

As well as the suspended sentences, Teulon, of Park View, Walker; and McGlen, of St Oswald Avenue, Walker, were handed a two-month curfew.