Dangerous driver ‘tried to play down culpability’ in fatal collision that killed ‘kind and caring’ schoolgirl
20.01.2022 - 21:21
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
It was a collision waiting to happen, jurors at the trial of Andrew Cairns - a dangerous driver who killed a ‘kind and caring’ school girl in a fatal collision - were told.
The court heard that if Cairns had been following the speed limit then Ruby Cropper, 11, from Radcliffe, would still ‘in all probability’ be alive today.
Ruby’s heartbroken family listened in shock and horror from the back of the courtroom throughout the course of a five-day trial as jurors heard countless pieces of evidence into Cairns’ driving in the moments prior to the collision.
Ruby had been enjoying a sunny day in the school holidays on the way to the park with a friend when, on August 10, 2020, she was hit by a Suzuki Alto vehicle on New Road in Radcliffe.
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The car was being driven by Andrew Cairns, 36, of Rupert Street, Radcliffe, who was on the way home from work in Whitefield and had been driving ‘in excess speed’ at the time.
But instead of staying at the scene to check if Ruby was okay, Cairns fled.
He later abandoned his car and walked home. Soon after, he rang police to say he had hit a young girl with his car.
Cairns told jurors he had fled the scene in an act of ‘panic’.
Ruby was rushed to hospital, but died two days later from her injuries.
In the moments prior to the collision, Cairns had been described by other passengers as ‘shooting around the bend’ and driving at ‘super speed’.
Jurors heard how Cairns’ Suzuki Alto overtook a Fiat 500 on the wrong side of Higher Lane into incoming traffic before swerving back.
John McCann, who was driving the overtaken vehicle, told the court: “He was going a lot