A driver who mowed down and killed a 96-year-old woman in a fit of road rage has been jailed for her manslaughter. Michael Irons, 26, ran down Ivy Warnes in his silver VW Golf as she was being helped across the road by her daughter in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on March 8 this year.
The pensioner died later in hospital after suffering serious injuries. Irons had been trying to ram his car into an Audi Q7 with which he had been involved in a minor collision earlier that day.
Police said the occupants of the Audi challenged Irons before he reversed into another vehicle and drove off, deliberately scraping the Golf along the side of the parked Audi. Irons then dropped off his partner and young daughter and drove back to the scene where he drove deliberately towards the parked Audi Q7 intending to ram the vehicle.
It was then that he ploughed into Ivy before he collided with the Audi and tried to run from the scene. He was detained by members of the public who had witnessed the collisions.
Police said he was racially abusive towards members of the public during his arrest. In custody, Irons provided a breath test reading of 55 micrograms, above the legal limit of 35.
Yesterday (June 1) he was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to manslaughter, criminal damage to endanger, driving with excess alcohol and causing death while uninsured. Norwich Crown Court also imposed an extended licence period of four years.
Irons was also disqualified from driving for 10 years and will be required to pass an extended driving test before getting his licence back. Ivy's daughter Jill said her mum was the victim of a horrific and senseless incident, adding: "The tragic circumstances of mum’s death will haunt us forever."
Detective Inspector Dave McCormack, of Norfolk Constabulary, said: "Iron's actions that day have left a family without a much loved mother and our thoughts remain with them. This was a case of appalling driving standards with Irons showing a complete disregard for other road users.
"Not only did he drive dangerously with a vehicle that was uninsured but he went on to use that vehicle as a weapon to enact a deliberate act of violence upon another road user - claiming the life of an elderly pedestrian in the process."
