Oswestry driver was drunk and on cocaine when young woman was mowed down outside town centre takeaway
A jury at Stafford Crown Court has been shown the moment a 22-year-old woman was hit and killed after a car mounted the pavement and ploughed into a crowd of young people outside a Shropshire takeaway.
Rebecca Steer of Llanymynech, Wales, was struck outside the Grill Out takeaway in Oswestry town centre shortly before 3am. A second pedestrian, Kyle Roberts, was seriously injured in the incident.
Stephen McHugh, of Artillery Road, Park Hall, has admitted killing Miss Steer after she was hit by his gold Volvo in Willow Street in the early hours of October 9 last year, but he has denied murder.
The Jury at Stafford Crown Court on the fourth day of McHugh's murder trial, heard how the 28-year-old admitted at the time of his arrest to being drunk and high on cocaine on the night he hit and killed Miss Steer.
The court had previously heard how McHugh, who had no licence and had only bought his S60 Volvo 12 days earlier, had used the vehicle "as a weapon" after getting into an altercation with some young people outside the takeaway.
On Monday, the jury was shown CCTV footage detailing the movements of both McHugh and Miss Steer.
Ben Williams, prosecuting, told jurors that Miss Steer arrived in the vicinity of Grill Out takeaway on Willow Street just before 2.50pm.
Five minutes earlier, CCTV footage showed McHugh and two friends getting into his gold Volvo outside the Unicorn pub at 2.45am after a night of drinking in the town.
The jury watched CCTV evidence of the Volvo as it travelled from the Unicorn to Smithfield Street, Church Street and into Willow Street just as Miss Steer was crossing the road. The young woman had to take avoiding action as the Volvo suddenly reversed outside the takeaway.
She then stepped onto the pavement outside the Grill Out as the car surged forward, mounting the pavement before careering into the 22-year-old.
Prosecutor Ben Williams added that paramedics and ambulance crews battled to save the young woman's life after arriving on the scene shortly after 3am. She was taken to ambulance to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly on arrival. A post-mortem revealed she has suffered "catastrophic internal injury".
The jury was also shown footage of McHugh's arrest on October 10 last year, when he told officers that it was not his "intention" to kill the young woman.
He told arresting officers: "I didn't try to hit them. I was trying to scare them."
He also admitted to custody officers to being "drunk" and having taken cocaine and cannabis on the night of October 8 preceding the early morning incident in which Miss Steer died, Mr Williams told the jury.
The trial before Mr Justice Andrew Baker continues.
