'Life is a nightmare' say parents of woman killed in crash caused by 100mph driver

Leon Roberts, 25, was driving at speeds of nearly 100mph when he crashed into a parked taxi on the Sheffield Parkway in February 2023.

He then ran from the wreckage, leaving his injured friends fighting for their lives in his car that was about to go up in flames.

Passenger Sharna Burgin, aged 23, died a few days later.

Her mother, Elaine, said: “Every morning when I wake up, I am back in the nightmare of the 26th of February 2023 all over again.

“The events of that night will haunt me forever - being woken up by my phone ringing and hearing a police officer’s voice. My heart was literally beating out of my chest. The feeling of anxiety and sickness ran through me as I tried to keep calm.

“I feel lost and heartbroken from losing our Sharna in such a tragic way. I now come home to a quiet and empty house daily. Our Sharna used to fill the house with so much fun and laughter. I miss this so much…. the pain of knowing she won’t be coming home again is heart breaking, and just as unbearable as that very first day.”

Sharna’s father, Matthew, said: “The pain and heartbreak this has caused me is every parent’s worst nightmare, which I have to live with for the rest of my life.

“This has left a big hole in mine and my family’s lives, and everybody that knew Sharna.

“I still can’t believe I’m having to write this, as it still doesn’t seem real. I keep hoping to wake up from this nightmare.”

Roads Policing Inspector Matt Collings added: “Sadly our officers all too regularly have to deliver the message to families that their loved one has died in a road traffic collision. It’s the worst part of the job.

“To know that someone has lost their life often due to someone else’s selfish actions is devastating.

“No family deserves to ever go through the unimaginable pain that such collisions cause.”