A care home worker who was five months pregnant lost her unborn baby boy after she was “thrown into the air” by a hit-and-run collision, a court has heard.
Renju Joseph, 31, was struck by a car driven at high speed by Ashir Shahid, 20, as she walked on a pedestrian crossing in the village of Bamber Bridge, near Preston, Lancashire.
The Toyota Prius was estimated to be travelling at between 58mph and 71mph in wet conditions in a 30mph zone, Preston Crown Court heard.
Mrs Joseph was rushed to hospital from the scene in Station Road in the early evening of September 29 for treatment to head and spinal injuries.
Prosecutor Emma Keogh said: “It also became apparent that the life of her unborn child was in severe jeopardy.
“An emergency C-section had to be carried out in an attempt to save the unborn child’s life. The placenta had ruptured and Mrs Joseph had bled quite heavily.
“Her child was born that evening but sadly he only survived for a few hours before passing away.
“This was her very first pregnancy with her husband who she married about five years earlier. This was a planned pregnancy and very much wanted.”
Healthcare assistant Mrs Joseph was walking slightly behind two colleagues on the crossing at about 7.50pm as they headed to work a night shift.
A motorist travelling in the opposite direction said the Prius driver seemed to increase speed about 15 metres away from the crossing and then swerved away from the two pedestrians in front.
The pregnant woman was hit and “thrown into the air for quite some distance” before she tumbled and rolled into the car, said the witness.
Ms Keogh told the court: “It was very clear from footage in both the lead-up and the aftermath that the Toyota was driven at speed. It was clear that throughout the journey the driving by Ashir Shahid left a lot to be desired.”
Video clips recovered from the mobile phone of his front seat passenger show the pair laughing and singing to music as the car is driven erratically and at speed.
The passenger is also seen to put his feet out of the window while the driver removes both hands from the wheel at times.
Minutes after the collision the Toyota was abandoned in the nearby village of Lostock Hall before it was later moved on to a flatbed truck and driven to Farnworth, Greater Manchester, where it was found days later by police.
Shahid was arrested at an address in Kirkham after he had spent several days lying low at a friend’s house in Accrington.
He made no comment when interviewed but when his phone was examined it revealed that on the night of the collision he made an online search for “charge for hit and run human”.
A video clip on his Snapchat account showed him singing along to the Shaggy song It Wasn’t Me and laughing.
Shahid, of Windsor Road, Walton le Dale, Preston, pleaded guilty in June to causing the death of Mrs Joseph’s baby Olive by dangerous driving.
He also admitted causing serious injury to Mrs Joseph by dangerous driving.
Shahid will be sentenced on Friday along with a 17-year-old male who pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.
