Danger driver mowed down pensioner on her way home
AN 80-year-old woman mowed down on her way home from the shops by a man with drug and driving convictions died after nearly a month in hospital. Dympna Campbell was hit by Darren Lloyd Waul as she crossed the road.
Waul was over the legal limit for a cocaine by-product. He had trace amounts of the Class A drug – and can- nabis – in his system. He has previous convictions for drug possession and driving without a licence.
Ms Campbell died after spending nearly a month in hospital having suffered extensive soft tissue injuries; pelvic fractures; and an ankle break, which needed surgery.
A judge described a medical report into Ms Campbell’s condition after the smash as ‘harrowing’. Waul, 48, ‘took no evasive action’ and only reacted after hitting the pensioner.
Ms Campbell’s family said Waul ‘got what he deserved’ after he was jailed for four years and nine months. He earlier pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit.
Manchester Crown Court heard Ms Campbell left her Stretford home to buy cigarettes and cat food from her local Co-op around 8am on December 13, 2017.
Waul, of Chepstow Avenue, Sale, was driving his black Ford Fiesta along Barton Road when he hit her.
Waul was over the limit for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine. He also had traces of cocaine and cannabis in his system.
It was still dark, but the street was illuminated, Henry Blackshaw, prosecuting, told the court. Waul didn’t turn his headlights on. Mr Blackshaw said: “He could have stopped very comfortably.”
In a victim impact statement, Ms Campbell’s sister Moira Robb said: “No one else is to blame for Dympna’s death but the defendant for his utterly selfish dangerous driving,” she said.
“We have been left with an immeasurable sense of loss; a void which we are all struggling to fill and which will stay with us forever.
“No one made him take drugs or made him drive. We have lost our best friend and our sister as a result of his selfish act.”