The horrific moment a young woman was mown down by a car and killed was caught on CCTV footage. Around 2.45am on Sunday, October 9, 2022, Stephen McHugh drove into a group of people in Shropshire after mounting the kerb outside a takeaway on a busy street.
Rebecca Steer, a 22-year-old student at Liverpool John Moores University, was killed in the crash. She was described as being an "innocent young woman" who was a "bystander" in the incident.
McHugh, from Fazakerley near Liverpool, had never held a driving licence and had downed a cocktail of cocaine, six beers and ten double shots of spirits before he got into his Volvo car and drove it on the night of the crash., The 28-year-old was caught on nearby CCTV footage which has now been released by West Mercia police.
He was found guilty of murdering Rebecca and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm following a two-week trial, the Liverpool Echo reports. McHugh, who was living near Oswestry, Shropshire, at the time of the killing, admitted manslaughter and assault. He claimed he was trying to frighten pedestrians after an earlier altercation nearby.
The court was shown CCTV footage of McHugh stopping in the road near the Grill Out takeaway and exchanging words with a group of people. Rebecca was crossing Willow Street and narrowly avoided being hit by McHugh when he reversed the Volvo.
She managed to get onto the pavement and out of the line of danger until McHugh turned the steering wheel in her direction. He then drove straight towards Rebecca and a group of people on the pavement.
Prosecutor Kevin Hegarty KC said: "The driver's side of the car went on to the kerb, on to the footpath, and he proceeded to drive through the group. We say he used his car as a weapon - he used the power and the weight of the car to strike the group."
McHugh's vehicle hit three people, the court heard, including two men who were "knocked aside" by the front wing. Mr Hegarty told the court: "Rebecca Steer was more towards the front of the car and as the car increased its speed - as it went through the group, she was dragged down under the car."
Before showing the jury CCTV clips from nearby business premises of the Volvo being reversed and then driven forwards into Ms Steer, Mr Hegarty said of McHugh: "He was heard speaking in an aggressive way. You may well think the way he reversed the car, which was at speed and without regard to those around him, gives a clear insight into what he was thinking and what he intended to do.
"We say that was to strike his target whoever it was. We don't suggest Rebecca Steer was his target - she was in effect a bystander."
McHugh was convicted following trial after jurors deliberated for eight hours and 39 minutes, over three days. He was found guilty of murder and trying to wound a male pedestrian who was also knocked down by a majority 11-1 verdict.
Jurors at the 28-year-old's trial were not told that he has previous convictions related to drugs and the seizure of sawn-off shotgun in Merseyside in 2019.
McHugh claimed he "didn't mean to hit anyone". He told the trial that he was not angry with the group and had reversed to get alongside them to pick up a friend. He told the jury: "I am not an angry person, I didn't really think about it. It was a moment of stupidity."
McHugh will be sentenced by Mr Justice Andrew Baker today.
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