Driver who ploughed into crowd and killed student guilty of murder

A drink-driver who ploughed into a crowd of pedestrians outside a takeaway, fatally injuring a student, has been convicted of her murder.

Rebecca Steer, 22, died in hospital after the crash in Oswestry, Shropshire, in October in which she was dragged under the killer's Volvo.

Stephen McHugh, 28, who did not hold a driving licence, admitted drinking and taking cocaine before driving his car.

He was also convicted of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Jurors at Stafford Crown Court deliberated for more than eight-and-a-half hours over three days before convicting McHugh by a majority verdict.

McHugh had previously claimed in court he had been trying to frighten a group of people outside the Grill Out takeaway when he had mounted a footpath.

Ms Steer, an undergraduate at Liverpool John Moores University from Llanymynech, Powys, was dragged under his vehicle in the early hours of 9 October.

A second pedestrian, Kyle Roberts, was also hit and injured.

Giving evidence at his trial, McHugh admitted having almost no driving experience and he had never had a driving lesson.

The 28-year-old, of Artillery Road, Park Hall, Shropshire, had traded in a manual Volkswagen Passat for an automatic Volvo eight days before he drove his newly-acquired car into the crowd, jurors heard.

In the hours before the crash, McHugh, formerly of Fazakerley, Liverpool, said he had drunk beers, taken cocaine and had also had about 10 double shots of spirits at pubs, a friend's flat and a nightclub.

But he had denied using his car as a "weapon" to deliberately drive into the pedestrians in Willow Street at about 02:45 BST, claiming he had not been angry with them and had reversed to get alongside them to pick up a friend.

Opening the case, prosecutor Kevin Hegarty KC said McHugh had been seen on CCTV stopping in the road and exchanging words with a group of people near the takeaway.

Ms Steer was crossing Willow Street just as McHugh's Volvo suddenly shot backwards as he reversed, narrowly missing her, he said.

She managed to get out of the way and on to to the pavement on the opposite side of the street.

"At that moment, Mr McHugh turned the steering wheel in the direction of the people on the pavement and then he drove on to the pavement towards that group of people," Mr Hegarty said.

"The driver's side of the car went on to the kerb, on to the footpath, and he proceeded to drive through the group.

"We say he used his car as a weapon - he used the power and the weight of the car to strike the group."

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