A gran died months after suffering horrendous injuries in a hit-and-run involving a speeding BMW driver who went to extraordinary lengths to try and cover up his crimes. Businessman Joshua Hartley went through a red light and ploughed into 66-year-old Valerie Sandham, who had just got off a bus to go shopping in Wythenshawe.
Mrs Sandham died six months later. Her family described the last period of her life as a 'living hell', after she underwent six operations after suffering breaks to her leg, spine, ribs and arm.
After the horror crash, the previously independent mum needed a stick or a walker to get around, as well as requiring 'degrading' help getting washed or dressed. Hartley, 32, left her seriously hurt in the road, after Mrs Sandham had been violently thrown into the air. He hid his BMW for a few days after the crash, then arranged to have it repaired and sold on.
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Months later 'diligent' police officers traced the car to the west Midlands, where they found it had undergone significant repairs including a full bumper replacement. The use of data in the vehicle allowed police to prove that the car had been at the scene of the hit-and-run, and cell site data showed Hartley was also present.
He eventually pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and has now been jailed for three years and four months following a hearing at Manchester Crown Court. Mrs Sandham contracted Covid and suffered other complications, and prosecutors did not allege there was a causal link between the crash and her death.
Her family hit out at Hartley for making the mum-of-three's life a 'living hell'. "The defendant has shown no remorse whatsoever," a family statement read.
"He had over 12 months to hand himself in, he didn't. Our lives were changed forever because of the defendant's dangerous and selfish actions. Our Mum was a shadow of her former self and it was heartbreaking to watch."
Prosecuting, Ben Jones told how Mrs Sandham had planned to meet a friend and go shopping on August 22, 2020. She got off a bus and was at a pedestrian crossing, walking across after the light had turned green on Altrincham Road. Hartley went through a red light at 'high speed' and hit her, before fleeing the scene.
A bus driver used his vehicle to block off the road while the emergency services arrived, and went to check on Mrs Sandham. She was rushed to hospital and was only discharged in October that year.
Her family were unable to visit her for weeks, which they said was 'unbearable'. When they did manage to get into the hospital, they found their mum 'black and blue'.
She was readmitted later in October after suffering suspected deep vein thrombosis, and was discharged. In January last year, she spent weeks in an induced coma and died in February.
Meanwhile, Hartley was trying to cover his tracks. The BMW had been insured to his mother's house in Scotland, and the car was later found in the west Midlands having been repaired and sold on.
Police were able to use location data from the car, and from Hartley's phone, to trace his movements. He was eventually tracked down in October last year.
At first Hartley, who was previously jailed for more than three years for GBH and burglary, denied being the driver but he eventually pleaded guilty.
Defending, Simon Gurney said Hartley wanted to apologise but the judge said he found it 'difficult to accept' that he is remorseful. He said Hartley, of Oak Drive, Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, had set up his own recruitment business after being released from jail two years ago.
Sentencing, Judge Alan Conrad QC hit out at his 'callous' and 'determined' efforts to try and cover up his involvement.
After the hearing, Sergeant Andrew Page, of GMP's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "This case was particularly traumatic given Valerie's fight and bravery shown after this collision before ultimately the injuries she had suffered were just too serious for her to continue.
"This is in contrast with the cowardice and remorselessness of Joshua Hartley who not only failed to remain at the scene of the collision after speeding through a red light, but proceeded to evade police for over a year before we ultimately traced him and questioned him about this tragic incident.
"We saw no sign of compassion from Hartley when we questioned him, and it was only when he was presented with the overwhelming evidence in court that he eventually succumbed to what he had done. I want to thank everyone involved in this investigation to ensure that ultimately Hartley is where he deserves to be for the damage he has caused ever since that fateful morning in August 2020.
"I hope now Valerie's family have some closure from this ordeal and I'd like to pay tribute to her family and friends who have been - and will continue to be - left devastated by the events of that day."
