55mph speeding driver who killed child had been banned 3 times
A ‘COWARDLY’ hit-and-run driver who killed an 11-year-old boy had already been banned from the road three times and had two convictions for dangerous driving.
Police estimated Michael Robinson, 31, had been driving as fast as 55mph when he mowed down Taylor Schofield, a court heard.
The speed limit on the residential street in Beswick, Manchester, was 20mph. Robinson pleaded guilty to causing Taylor’s death by dangerous driving and was jailed for six years and eight months at Manchester Crown Court yesterday.
Police said any punishment ‘would never be enough’ for the boy’s family as they are ‘serving a life sentence’ due to their loss.
Taylor was cycling along the narrow street on January 12 and, although it was dark, he was visible due to street lighting and his bike reflectors, the court heard.
The driver briefly stopped but then fled the scene as the youngster lay in the road. Paramedics were called at around 6.10pm and Taylor later died in hospital.
Robinson handed himself in to police soon afterwards following a conversation with his solicitor. Based on CCTV footage, officers estimated Robinson’s Volkswagen Golf had been travelling at 55mph. Sentencing the defendant, Judge Martin Walsh said: ‘This is a case where there was on your part a deliberate decision to ignore or have a flagrant disregard for rules of the road… it was a cowardly and selfish act.’
Robinson, of Gorton, Manchester, will be banned from driving for seven years after his release.
Speaking after the hearing, Taylor’s parents said they still felt ‘pure devastation’ at their loss.
Road safety charity Brake last night described Robinson’s sentence as ‘incredibly lenient’, adding: ‘We need laws that act as a deterrent.’
Robinson has three previous driving convictions. In 2004 he was banned for two years for dangerous driving after he chased and rammed into another vehicle, and in 2006 he received another two-year ban for dangerous driving following an incident involving a quad bike.
In April 2017 he was handed a 12-month ban for drug-driving.