The mother of an 11-year-old girl who was run down whilst crossing the road has spoken of her agony after her death.
Shelley Booth bravely stood in the witness box in front of Andrew Cairns before he was jailed for five years for causing Ruby Cropper’s death.
Cairns, 36, had hit Ruby at 'excessive speed' as she crossed New Road, in Radcliffe, Bury, then drove off, leaving her on the road to die.
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Ruby was left with catastrophic injuries and died two days later.
Six months after her death, Cairns was caught doing 98 miles per hour on the M62.
Throughout a trial in January this year, Cairns did not offer an apology to Ruby’s family, nor did he show a hint of remorse or regret.
A jury unanimously found him guilty of causing her death by dangerous driving.
In a packed courtroom at Manchester Crown Court, one could hear a pin drop as Ruby’s brother Ryan, her mum Shelley and dad Ian, each faced their daughter’s killer.
'No, please don't be for Ruby'
First, her older brother Ryan Veitch took to the stand, and said his life had “flipped upside down”.
He said he was on his way home from work on August 10 202 when he suddenly received a call from Chris, both his and Ruby’s stepfather, saying he needed to get home as soon as possible as his sister had been in an accident.
“I asked how bad it was and he didn't say - he just said get home quick.
“As I was on my way home, there was quite a lot of traffic near our road.
“A man said there had been a bad crash and I said yes it's my sister I need to get there now.
“Driving straight down I could hear an air ambulance and realised how serious this was.
I screamed: “No, please don't be for Ruby, no, please don’t be for Ruby”.
He said he ran to his sister who was lying on the floor, their mother was by her side.
He couldn’t hold back his tears and said his mum told him to be quiet as Ruby might still be able to hear him.
Speaking of life after her death, he said: “Depressed, anxious, numb, empty, miserable, negative. I felt every single one over the last 18 months.
“I have never been the same since the accident. It really hurts not having my sister around.
“I love and miss you lots, Ruby.”
'We lost our ray of sunshine'
Reading from her statement, Ruby’s mum Shelley Booth said life had never been the same since receiving a call from her husband telling her that their ‘beautiful daughter’ had been run over.
“The shock of seeing her unconscious and dying in front of me is the worst thing I have ever had to deal with in my life,” she said.
"I couldn’t understand how my gorgeous, happy girl, who would help anyone, had been run over and left in the road, and that the driver didn’t have the heart to stop and help her, not even ring an ambulance.
"Our world ended at that point. We had lost our ray of sunshine.”
Ruby was due to start her first day at St Gabriel's School in Bury in the next few weeks.
She had been that excited that she was wearing her PE hoodie all the time, her mum said.
In the minutes before the collision, a mother walking with her children saw Ruby walking with a ‘spring in her step’, describing her as a bright, energetic young girl, full of life.
Ruby and her best friend, who would practice TikTok dances together, were on their way to the local park on a bright summer's day.
Immediately after Ruby had been struck, her friend ran to Ruby's parent’s house which was just 100 yards away, telling them she was hurt.
“Her friend was inconsolable. She was 10 at the time when she witnessed such a thing happen to her best friend,” Shelley said.
“She misses her very very much, just like we do."
Looking to the future, she said: "We will never get to see her prom, her first day at college and at university. We won’t see her get married or become a mum. We will never see what life she would have had.
"No sentence will ever be enough, as we have to spend the rest of our lives without our beautiful, kind, caring and funny girl. She was the brightest light in the darkest room. We miss her so much.”
Ruby would have died on August 10, but as she was an organ donor, the family had until the early hours of August 12 to say their goodbyes to their little girl.
"We lay with her and played her favourite music, took her hand and foot prints, told her how much we loved her and were there until her last breath,” Shelley said movingly.
Since her death, Ruby has saved three people after donating her kidneys and her liver.
'Ruby was my whole world'
Last to read his statement was Ruby’s dad Ian Cropper.
He said that after it all happened he was angry for a long time.
“I didn’t care about anything, life just became pointless and my reason for being wasn’t apparent anymore,” he said.
"Every day merged into one and they felt endless – no work, no sleep, no one to talk to that could understand the way I was feeling – I was lost in my own bubble of anger that I couldn’t allow anyone in to, it was too hard.
"Ruby was my whole world, she was my best friend and absolute love of my life – Ruby made me the person I am.
“She made me a Daddy, she made me see the world differently, she made me strong when I didn’t feel it, she made me happy when I was sad – she was my EVERYTHING and it's hard to put into words the loss I feel.
"I am not sure there are enough words in this world to try and describe a world without Ruby in it.
“I have spent 547 days without her, 547 days of not seeing her beautiful face, 547 days of not being called ‘Daddy’, 547 sleepless nights and 547 days of tears, heartache and agony.
“18 months ago I was sentenced. I was handed a life sentence brought upon by a man in this court for a crime I did not commit.”
As they each read their statements, Cairns bent over and covered his ears.
Cairns, of Rupert Street, Radcliffe, was jailed for five years and banned from driving for seven years.
Speaking after the hearing, Lead Investigator, PC Phil Drummond, from GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "For reasons only known to himself, Cairns chose to drive in a way that would inevitably end in disaster.
"His reckless actions had the most severe of consequences; the life of a young, innocent girl ended and a family torn apart.
"As quickly as he took Ruby’s life, he fled the scene without any thought for her, leaving decent members of the public to rush to her aid.
"While Cairns admitted to causing Ruby’s death at an earlier hearing, he failed to recognise and take responsibility for his sustained, despicable course of driving.
"Furthermore, only six months later and while on bail, he continued to drive without regard for public safety and was caught speeding, showing a complete and utter lack of remorse.
"Thankfully, 17 months after the collision, a jury saw through Cairns' inconsistent account and rightly convicted him of causing Ruby’s death by driving dangerously.
"I wish to thank Ruby’s family for their patience and compassion throughout the entire investigation. I hope this serves to bring them some level of closure.
"Furthermore, I would like to take the opportunity to commend the efforts of the members of public who not only aided Ruby until paramedics arrived but furthermore, appeared in court to give evidence, ultimately reliving their horrific memories.
"I hope this serves to reassure our communities and a reminder to those who seek to put them in danger - the Serious Collision Investigation Unit is dedicated to our work and will continue to prosecute them."
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