Son’s desperate bid to save hit-run dad

THE devastated son of a man killed by a hit-and-run driver has told of his desperate attempts to save his father as he lay ‘dying on the ground.’

John Richardson was crossing the road outside his son’s home in Rishton Lane, Bolton, when he was hit by a speeding Vauxhall Vectra on the evening of September 28.

The car was being driven by Daniel Salvin, and was one of two vehicles racing along the narrow residential street at speeds of more than 50mph.

Mr Richardson’s son, John Stephens, heard the impact of the crash from inside his brother Anthony’s home and rushed outside to discover his father lying in the road.

As Salvin fled the scene, Mr Stephens tried to save his dad and held his hand as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

The 59-year-old was taken to hospital, where he died from his injuries a week later. Reliving the events of that evening in a heartbreaking victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Stephens said: “Nobody should ever have to see their dad dying on the ground.

“I held his hand whilst he was on the ground and he effectively died at the scene.” Mr Stephens said he and his family have been traumatised by the incident. He added: “I am struggling to sleep at the moment and as the collision happened directly outside where I live, I can’t get away from what happened. It’s a constant reminder and we spend all our time in the back of the house.” Bolton Crown Court heard that Salvin, 22, had spent the hours leading up to the crash driving

Daniel Salvin was jailed for more than seven years around Bolton with friends.

Salvin verbally abused a woman after a collision and one of his group attacked another motorist with a baseball bat.

Shortly after, Salvin was then seen racing a red Volkswagen Golf along streets in the Deane and Great Lever areas of the town.

The driver of the other vehicle has not been found.

Following the crash, Salvin ignored friends’ pleas to stop and his vehicle was found engulfed in flames just hundreds of yards away, in Heywood

Park View, soon after. He was later arrested in Northern Ireland.

Salvin, of Eustace Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.

The court heard he had only bought the vehicle three weeks earlier, and that he did not possess a driving licence or insurance.

Judge Martin Walsh sentenced Salvin to seven years and four months in prison. He was also banned from driving for 10 years and six months.