A convicted drug-dealer who killed a 22-year-old woman when he deliberately drove into a crowd of pedestrians has been found guilty of murder and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.
Stephen McHugh, who has never had a driving licence, had taken cocaine and downed six beers and ten double shots of spirits before driving his Volvo onto a footpath in Oswestry, Shropshire. A two-week trial at Stafford Crown Court was told innocent bystander Rebecca Steer was crushed underneath the vehicle near a takeaway and died of “catastrophic” injuries.
McHugh, originally from Fazakerley in Liverpool but living near Oswestry at the time of the killing last October, admitted manslaughter and assault, claiming he was trying to frighten pedestrians after an earlier altercation nearby. Jurors deliberated for eight hours and 39 minutes over three days before convicting McHugh by majority 11-1 verdicts of murder and trying to wound a male pedestrian who was also knocked down.
