A family have released a heartbreaking statement after a man was found guilty of murdering a 22-year-old student.
Stephen McHugh took 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 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.
