Family’s world 'torn apart’ after Market Drayton father killed by dangerous driver

James Greenwood, 61, from Market Drayton, was killed when he was hit by a BMW 1 Series on a stretch of road near Keswick just before 12.30am on April 7 last year.

The car was driven by Matthew Paul Leggett, 25, of Cockermouth, who was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving for four years after he admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop and failing to report an accident.

Leggett's friend, Finlay Lewis Davidson, was jailed for 10 months after admitting acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice.

During the sentencing hearing, Mr Greenwood's daughter, Lisa Manning, read a statement and told about the terrible impact her father's death had on the family.

She revealed how he was a keen biker and had made many friends over the years, including those he was with in the Lakes last April.

"As a family we have had to deal with the sudden death of dad. We are only now beginning to get answers surrounding the events of his death some 18 months on," she said.

"There are simply not enough words that can describe the impact that dad's death and the way in which his life was taken has had on our family."

Of Leggett, she said: "At no point over the last 18 months has he shown any remorse or accountability for his actions or respect for our family.

"From the very start he has only considered himself and not the repercussions of his actions on a grieving family throughout a long and drawn-out legal process."

Leggett was found not guilty of a charge alleging he did acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice, with jurors in two trials failing to reach a verdict after hearing evidence.

She said: "Even during the two trials he has shown no remorse or consideration.

"He has been disrespectful, laughing and joking outside with his friends and family on the (court) concourse and has given no consideration to our family and what we have had to endure in hearing the events surrounding dad's death and the immediate events that took place afterwards.

"Attending court has been a very difficult and stressful time for us, which has been made significantly worse by his actions."

Trauma

Of the collision itself, she added: "My family and I cannot understand how you can leave someone dead on the side of the road. It is without a shadow of a doubt that dad and any one of us would have stopped that night and helped.

"Dad's friends will forever have to live with what happened that night and images no-one should have to see. They will forever carry the image of their friend lying on the side of the road and the trauma of trying to revive him.

"This is something that no-one should ever have to go through. If Mr Leggett had stopped, then he could have helped in some way, even using his car as a warning for other vehicles on the road or simply calling the emergency services."

Her comments were echoed by one of those friends, Mike Wilkinson, who spoke in a statement about suffering "flashbacks" having been there that night.

"Had the driver stopped and helped us to try and save Jimmy's life, I would be putting this down to a terrible tragic accident. If he hadn't left, we could have used his car lights to lessen the confusion. He could have used his hazard lights to warn oncoming traffic as we were knelt in the road," stated Mr Wilkinson.

"With no means of warning other drivers, I was so frightened we were also going to be hit. I continually struggle to understand how someone could have left us in the darkness as they did."