Drag-racing council worker jailed for killing father-of-three at twice the speed limit

Nathan Pickersgill, 23, was travelling at “motorway speeds” and racing other drivers when he ploughed into Shane Grimes on July 13, 2019, leaving his family “devastated”.

Robert Smith, prosecuting, said the former council gritter had attended a "car meet" in the car park of a B&Q in Beeston, Leeds, prior to the tragedy.

He then struck Shane with his Skoda Fabia near a dual carriageway, in Leeds, as he walked home from a night out with friends at around 11 pm.

Pickersgill, from Pudsey, Leeds, who had recently become a father himself, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Mr Smith told a court that Pickersgill was estimated to have been driving at between 70mph and 80mph - in a 40mph zone - moments before the collision.

His car and another vehicle, which has never been identified, were both captured on CCTV footage travelling at high speeds prior to the tragedy, the court heard.

A witness who saw the defendant's car shortly before the incident described Pickersgill's car as "flying past us" and said he remembered thinking, "What an idiot".

Mr Smith said: "It may have been that Mr Grimes misjudged the speed on the vehicles because they had been travelling so far above the speed limit."

Shane was thrown from the Bradford-bound carriageway into the Leeds-bound carriageway following the impact with Pickersgill’s vehicle, the court heard.

He suffered multiple injuries and died a short time after the collision.

Mr Smith said Pickersgill had lost control of his vehicle as it struck the kerb then crashed into a telegraph pole and a wall.

He told the court the defendant was heard to say "I think I have killed him" at the scene as members of the public tried desperately to help Shane.

After the crash, Pickersgill's mobile phone was seized and was found to contain photos of high-powered cars "drag racing".

Images of his own vehicle "accelerating and decelerating" in a multi-storey car park were also found.

A victim statement was read to the court on behalf of Shane’s former partner, Chantelle Holt, where she said his youngest child would now never know his “daddy”.

She said: "I have spent over two years counselling and having to repeatedly explain to our children, who were aged one, three and five at the time, of the loss of their father and that he would never be coming home.

"Our baby will never get the chance to know his daddy. There are so many opportunities in life they will never have, like being walked down the aisle by their father.

"Our lives have changed forever no matter what the sentence the defendant receives or the remorse he feels. It will never bring Shane back."

Christopher Dunn, mitigating, said: "This is an utterly tragic case. Two families' lives have been decimated by what is essentially 30 seconds of pure madness, which is wholly out of character for the man that stands before you facing a lengthy prison sentence.

"Nobody in their right mind puts their foot down in a car and anticipates that this is going to happen. This has had a catastrophic impact on him. Like any right-minded individual, he will be haunted for the rest of his life on the basis that he has killed somebody."

The barrister said Pickersgill's partner had recently given birth to their son, and that he worked as a council gritter driver.

He added: "He takes his obligation for public safety seriously, which makes this 30 seconds of madness all the more difficult to understand."

Sentencing Pickersgill, Judge Christopher Batty said: "You took a deliberate decision to travel at nearly twice that speed limit. I cannot be sure why that was. You have never been able to provide any explanation for it.

"There is not enough evidence to be sure that you were racing the driver of the other car. I accept that your mental health has deteriorated dramatically as a result of the guilt and remorse that you feel.

"Not for yourself but for the death of Mr Grimes and the devastating loss to his family. I recognise that you will live with that guilt and remorse for the rest of your life.

"As a new father, the enormity of Shane's family's loss will be all too apparent to you. Their loss has been immeasurable. Their lives have been turned upside down by your reckless behaviour."