A man who killed an 11-year-old girl in a collision in Bury has been found guilty of dangerous driving.
A jury convicted Andrew Cairns, 36, of Rupert Street, Radcliffe, after his Suzuki Alto vehicle collided with schoolgirl Ruby Cropper on New Lane, Radcliffe in August 2020.
She died in hospital two days later from the injuries she suffered.
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Jurors at a Nightingale Court, held at the Hilton Hotel due to the pandemic, heard Cairns was driving ‘at excessive speed’ moments prior to the fatal collision shortly after 4.30pm on August 10, 2020.
He had previously pleaded guilty to causing the death of Ruby by careless driving, but denied causing her death by dangerous driving.
Eye-witnesses who saw Cairns before the collision said he had been ‘driving like a looney’.
Other eye-witnesses said they thought Cairns had been ‘driving super fast’ and ‘like he was on a racetrack’.
In police interviews, Cairns admitted to driving ‘in excess speed’ of around 40 mph at the time.
Prosecutor Jamie Baxter said expert analysis had established that had Cairns been driving at the correct speed limit, then the collision might not have happened.
Evidence taken eight metres after the collision was ‘consistent with no braking’ from the vehicle involved.
Following the collision, CCTV footage found how Cairns ‘made no attempt to stop’.
The court heard how, after colliding with Ruby, he then drove off from the scene, abandoning his car before walking to his home address nearby.
He then rang police a short while later to say he had hit a young girl and was later arrested.
Cairns will be sentenced on February 10.
