CCTV shows the horrifying moment a man deliberately mowed down a woman.
The footage was captured at around 2.45am on Sunday, October 9, last year, outside a takeaway on a busy street. It shows Stephen McHugh, from Fazakerley, mounting the curb and driving into a group of people in Shropshire.
The 28-year-old, who has never had a driving licence, killed Rebecca Steer in the crash. The 22-year-old Liverpool John Moores student was described as being an "innocent young woman" who was a "bystander" in the incident.
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West Mercia police released the footage after a two-week trial where McHugh was found guilty of murdering Rebecca Steer and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm. McHugh had taken cocaine and downed six beers and ten double shots of spirits before driving his Volvo on the night of the crash.
McHugh, originally from Fazakerley but living near Oswestry at the time of the killing, admitted manslaughter and assault, claiming he was trying to frighten pedestrians after an earlier altercation nearby. The CCTV shown to the court saw McHugh stopping in the road and exchanging words with a group of people near the Grill Out takeaway.
At that moment Rebecca Steer was crossing Willow Street. As she was crossing McHugh reversed the Volvo and narrowly missed her. She managed to get out of the way of the car and made her way to the pavement on the opposite side of Willow Street.
However McHugh then turned the steering wheel in the direction of Ms Steer and the group of people on the pavement and then he drove on to the pavement towards that group. prosecutor Kevin Hegarty KC said: "The driver's side of the car went on to the kerb, on to the footpath, and he proceeded to drive through the group. We say he used his car as a weapon - he used the power and the weight of the car to strike the group."
McHugh's vehicle hit three people, the court heard, including two men who were "knocked aside" by the front wing. Mr Hegarty told the court: "Rebecca Steer was more towards the front of the car and as the car increased its speed - as it went through the group, she was dragged down under the car."
Before showing the jury CCTV clips from nearby business premises of the Volvo being reversed and then driven forwards into Ms Steer, Mr Hegarty said of McHugh: "He was heard speaking in an aggressive way. You may well think the way he reversed the car, which was at speed and without regard to those around him, gives a clear insight into what he was thinking and what he intended to do.
"We say that was to strike his target whoever it was. We don't suggest Rebecca Steer was his target - she was in effect a bystander."
Jurors deliberated for eight hours and 39 minutes over three days before convicting McHugh by majority 11-1 verdicts of murder and trying to wound a male pedestrian who was also knocked down. Jurors at the 28-year-old's trial were not told that he has previous convictions related to drugs and the seizure of sawn-off shotgun in Merseyside in 2019.
McHugh claimed he "didn't mean to hit anyone". He told the trial that he was not angry with the group and had reversed to get alongside them to pick up a friend.
He told the jury: "I am not an angry person, I didn't really think about it. It was a moment of stupidity." McHugh will be sentenced by Mr Justice Andrew Baker today.
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