Speeding motorist celebrated fatal drive
A SPEEDING motorist who celebrated his “appalling driving” on Facebook even after he killed a man has been told he is a “deeply unpleasant individual” whose “insensitivity defies understanding”, by a judge.
Joshua Mewes, 21, was jailed for four years at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday by a judge who heard he was driving at 65mph in a 30mph area when he hit 64-year-old Robert Kolt, who was crossing the road in Dalton, Rotherham.
Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said one witness described Mewes as driving “like a bat out of hell” as he “ran down” Mr Kolt, who had just got off a bus.
Mr Richardson said Mewes had a “habit of driving aggressively and far too fast”, which he celebrated on social media.
Referring to screenshots of his Facebook pages gathered by police, the judge said: “These reveal you to be a man who liked to speed and drive aggressively and took some pride in all of this.
“You posted Facebook entries before and after you killed Mr Kolt. Your insensitivity defies understanding at least and, at worst, reveals your arrogance and defiance.”
Judge Richardson said: “The post-incident screenshots reveal to me, upon any analysis, that you are a deeply unpleasant individual.”
Mewes, of Highfield Park, Maltby, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at previous hearing to causing Mr Kolt’s death by dangerous driving. He was 20 when he hit Mr Kolt outside Silverwood Miner’s Welfare, on the A630 at Dalton on March 18, 2017, when it was dark and wet, the court heard.