Uninsured driver jailed after fatally reversing into ‘beloved’ great-grandmother

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Harrison Buckley, 24, had driven into pensioner Ann Cassidy as she was crossing a street in Rotherham last year

Harrison Buckley, 24 (South Yorkshire Police / SWNS)

An uninsured driver has been jailed for a year after knocking down and fatally injuring an 81-year-old great-grandmother, by reversing his car into her.

Harrison Buckley, 24, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and perverting the course of justice after Ann Cassidy’s tragic death in May last year.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Buckley had driven the Seat vehicle into the elderly pensioner as she was crossing a street in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

And following the incident, he “roped” his partner, Jordie Stokes, 27, into telling police that she was the driver and hadn’t realised what had happened, the court heard.

Officers initially regarded the collision as a minor incident, but hours later Anne’s health deteriorated, and she was found to have a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Sadly, she passed away the following day, with her grieving husband Eric telling the court he had lost “the love of his life” and his daughters their “best friend”.

Buckley later attended a police station and accepted he was the driver of the car during the incident after CCTV revealed a man had been in charge of the vehicle.

And handing Buckley a 59 week jail term yesterday (Nov 21), Judge Rachael Harrison told him no sentence would heal the pain he had caused to his victim’s family.

Ann Cassidy suffered a serious head injury and died after she was struck by Harrison Buckley (South Yorkshire Police / SWNS)

She said: “Ann Cassidy was 81. Her loss has been felt physically and emotionally.

“No sentence I can pass will alleviate that.”

The court heard Buckley had ploughed into Ann with the vehicle as she was crossing Park Lane, in Thrybergh, Rotherham, on May 27, 2021.

Prosecutor Laura Marshall said the Seat was a mobility vehicle that had been provided to Stokes because of her grandfather’s disability.

But Buckley had taken the car without her permission and later persuaded his partner to come to the scene and lie on his behalf.

The court heard Buckley was observed by police with an open bottle of Desperados alcohol at the time but hadn’t been breath-tested as they didn’t think he was the driver.

The collision was first deemed to have been a minor incident, and so police allowed Stokes to take away her vehicle.

But after Ann passed away in hospital, CCTV revealed a male had been driving the vehicle.

Stokes later admitted she had not realised Buckley had taken her car and she had not been the driver, and had only attended after the defendant had phoned her.

Ms Marshall said Buckley had attended a police station the following day and had accepted he was the person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the collision.

Ann’s widower Eric, who had come to the scene to find his wife injured, said he “missed” his wife and still talked to her even though she’d passed away.

He told the court: “Ann was my life. We did everything together. I miss her so much.

“I talk to her and see her everywhere in the house then I realise she is not there. I have lost the love of my life.”

He added that Ann, who was also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, was regarded by her daughters as their “best friend”.

Defence barrister Richard Barradell, representing Buckley, said: “He cannot believe how stupid he has been.

“He is bitterly disappointed in himself. He is very, very sorry for what he did. He has written a letter which encapsulates exactly how he feels about this.”

Mr Barradell added: “He roped his partner into this in the heat of the moment and he got her to say she was driving and he got her to take a breathalyser test.

“At the scene, he had no idea how serious this was going to end up. By the time he was being interviewed by police a few days later he was full of remorse and full of apologies for the family.”

Mr Barradell said Buckley has been struggling to cope after his brother had been involved in a car crash and had died in his arms.

The court also heard that at the time of the collision, Buckley had driven the car to get painkillers after he’d suffered two stab wounds and a bleed on the brain in an assault.

Defence barrister Andrew Pickin, representing mother-of-two Stokes, said: “Ms Stokes is deeply remorseful for her part in the offending and accepts it is a very serious matter and that she could face a custodial sentence.”

Mr Pickin added that Stokes’ grandfather had lost a leg and that was why she was registered to drive the mobility vehicle, and at the time, she had been scared that she might lose the vehicle.

Judge Harrison told Buckley: “You were in your partner’s vehicle without her permission and without insurance when you hit Ann Cassidy when reversing.”

She sentenced Buckley, from Thrybergh, Rotherham, to one year and seven weeks of custody and disqualified him from driving for 29 weeks.

She also gave Stokes, from Thrybergh, Rotherham, a six-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, with 100 hours of unpaid work.