Drug driver jailed over student's hit-and-run death

A drug driver who killed an 18-year-old university student in a hit-and-run crash has been jailed for 10 years.

Oliver Pryde was on his way home from watching England play Italy in the final of Euro 2020 when he was run down by 33-year-old Adam Smith in Huddersfield.

West Yorkshire Police said Smith had consumed nearly twice the legal limit of drugs when he ploughed into Mr Pryde, from Flimby in Cumbria, in the early hours of 12 July 2021.

Smith, from Huddersfield, was found guilty of causing death by careless driving when unfit through drugs after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.

Smith was driving a Vauxhall Corsa along Penistone Road in Kirkburton on 12 July 2021 when he hit Mr Pryde, sending him into the path of another car.

He fled the scene but was arrested a short time later.

Smith was also found guilty of causing death while unlicensed, causing death while disqualified from driving and causing death while uninsured.

Mr Pryde was studying maths at the University of Huddersfield at the time of his death, two weeks before his 19th birthday.

In a statement his mother, Stacey, said: "Oliver wanted to become a maths teacher at his old secondary school. His words were that he wanted to teach others and inspire the next generation just like his teachers had inspired him.

"No justice will ever be served in my eyes. I am left with a lifetime without Oliver and I’m left trying to rebuild the family that this person broke."

She said that since his death his former school, Netherhall School in Maryport, had created The Oliver Pryde award for mathematics, so "he can continue to inspire the next generation".

West Yorkshire Police said Smith's decision to get behind the wheel when under the influence had had "tragic consequences".

Det Con Mark Turner said: "His actions have left Oliver’s family and friends devastated and deprived Oliver of a promising future.

"I hope this highlights the dangers and consequences of drug driving – we welcome the sentence that has been handed down and hope it acts as a deterrent to others."

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