Driver who left teacher dying after Essex crash jailed

A driver who showed "contemptible cowardice" by fleeing the scene after hitting a pedestrian has been jailed.

Jack Robinson, now 23, drove off after hitting father-of-three Ben Hughes, on the A137 Harwich Road in Lawford near Manningtree in Essex on 8 December 2018.

Robinson, of Lydgate Close, Lawford, could not have avoided Mr Hughes but left him dying in a field, the court was told.

He has been jailed for 10 months.

Mr Hughes, who was 44 and from Colchester, was walking home from a railway station at the time of the crash.

Prosecutor Peter Shaw told St Albans crown court: "The assessment of the road traffic investigator was to the effect that the defendant could not have avoided the pedestrian. No charges were therefore brought against the defendant for causing the collision."

Robinson's car had suffered significant damage to the windscreen and headlamps making it unfit to drive. However he continued to drive for 2.5 miles before abandoning his vehicle in a pub car park in Manningtree, the court heard.

He called his mother at 02:00 GMT and told her he had hit someone.

She called 999 and Robinson arrived home but before police arrived he fled again.

The defendant returned home after talking to police on the phone and was arrested.

He told police he panicked because he did not have car insurance.

When Robinson was arrested, three hours after the crash, a breathalyser showed he was not over the drink-driving limit.

Mr Shaw said: "Even if the defendant had not been over the legal limit at the time he struck Mr Hughes, the prosecution assert that he was determined not to take any chances and evaded the police for as long as possible."

Robinson pleaded guilty last month to dangerous driving, attempting to pervert the course of justice, failing to stop, failing to report an accident and driving without insurance.

In a victim impact statement Mr Hughes' brother Stephen said: "He was funny, charming and sharply intelligent. He was an accomplished scholar who devoted his life to teaching. Jack Robinson showed contemptible cowardice the moment he made the decision to drive away."

The victim's wife Monali said the family's lives had changed for ever.

Judge Richard Foster said Robinson exhibited "appalling behaviour in the aftermath of the accident".

"You were not to know if Ben Hughes had died instantly. Any decent person would have stopped the car, got out, called emergency services and given first aid.

"It may be that would have made no difference, but you don't know that and the family don't know that."

Robinson was also banned from driving for 17 months and must take an extended retest.

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