Mum was left to die after being hit by speeding driver who left the scene
ABELOVED mum crossing the road on her way to a meal with her husband was left to die after being mowed down by a speeding driver.
John Brazil hit 60-yearold Anne Jones while driving a Mercedes A180 at twice the speed limit.
Instead of stopping, Brazil, 28, fled the scene and left Mrs Jones gravely injured. Brazil should not have been behind the wheel of a car because he was banned from driving at the time of the horror crash.
He handed himself in the next day, but even then tried to avoid the blame - telling police officers: “It wasn’t my fault, she just ran out.”
But Minshull Street Crown Court heard that the collision would never have happened if Brazil hadn’t been driving at 60mph in a 30mph zone on Edenfield Road in Rochdale.
Brazil later pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, and has now been jailed for nine years and nine months. About two dozen members of Mrs Jones’ devastated family packed the courtroom as distressing details of the case were
disclosed. Mrs Jones was well known within Rochdale council, having worked for many years as a personal assistant to the leader of the authority.
She was offered jobs working for the town’s MPS, but declined because she didn’t want to be away from her family.
Well wishers lined the streets on the day of her funeral, while more than 400 people attended the service. Addressing Brazil, Mrs Jones’ husband Mark said: “You are a coward, you ran away from the situation.
“Society at large needs to be protected from John Brazil.”
Prosecuting, Harriet Tighe told how Brazil got behind the wheel of a
Mercedes belonging to a friend who he was staying with. He later returned ‘crying’ and looking ‘scared’, telling them: “I’ve hit somebody, I’ve hit somebody.”
Asked if the person was okay, Brazil said he ‘didn’t know’. Witnesses noticed Brazil driving at speed around the time of the crash.
One believed he was ‘showing off’, while another said he was driving at ‘motorway speed’. Mrs Jones was hit at about 5pm as she tried to cross the road on December 19, 2021.
She and her husband had booked a table at an Indian restaurant, which they were attending with another couple. She died almost instantly after suffering horrendous injuries.
After hearing of Mrs Jones’ death, Brazil’s friend urged him to hand himself in to police. The following day he turned up at Bury police station.
He was quizzed and answered ‘no comment’ to questions asked by officers, but later pleaded guilty in court. “You should not have been on the road at all,” he was told by Judge Bernadette Baxter.
“Had you been travelling at the correct speed, Mrs Jones would not have lost her life. This tragedy was wholly avoidable, had you complied with the law, but you chose not to.”
Prosecutors told how Brazil was banned from driving at the time, because he had failed to complete a re-test following a conviction for dangerous driving.
In 2016 he crashed into some traffic lights after being chased by police.
The judge accepted that his remorse for causing Mrs Jones’ death was genuine.
His barrister read out a letter submitted on his behalf, in which he said: “From the bottom of my heart, I am truly and deeply sorry.”
Stuart Duke, defending, said the crash would stay with Brazil, a father to a young son, for the rest of his life.
Following the case, Mr Jones issued a tribute on behalf of his late wife.
He said: “Twenty-two months ago the world lost the most loving and generous person imaginable.
“Every day since, and for the rest of our lives, Anne’s family and friends will mourn her passing.
“The world and the lives of everyone who knew her will never be as happy as they could have been with Anne in it.
“Nothing the court did today will ever ease the loss our family suffers every day. Nothing will bring Anne back and we as a family will have to live with that fact forever. It is therefore irrelevant what happens to the man that killed Anne because no sentence could even begin to correct the devastation he has caused.”
Brazil, of Waithlands Road, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving; causing death by driving while disqualified; and causing death by dangerous driving while uninsured. He will serve half of his sentence in prison. Brazil was banned from driving for 10 years.
Following the hearing, Police Sergeant Louise Warhurst of Greater Manchester Police said: “It has taken more than two years to get to this point, but I hope the conclusion of this case will bring Anne’s family some form of closure. Anne was a loving wife and a devoted mother and that evening she should have been enjoying time spent with her husband and friends at Christmas.
“The pain and suffering Anne’s family have endured is unimaginable and our thoughts remain with them. I would like to thank them for their support, their strength and their bravery throughout
this investigation and particularly during proceedings at court, which I know will have been some of the hardest days in their lives.
“The actions taken by Brazil meant that Anne was taken from her family. Brazil was aware that he had hit Anne, and rather than stop to help her, he chose to drive away and leave her to die in the road. I want to thank all of our officers who have been involved in this case and who have played an important role in putting Brazil safely behind bars.”