A dad called 999 and falsely claimed his van was stolen while enjoying a few “sherberts” in the pub – after his workmate ran a red light in it and fatally struck a pensioner. John Newton, 81, was out jogging on February 25 last year when hit by a Ford Transit van crossing a road in Norris Green, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
The “fit and healthy” grandad, who still worked as a part-time mechanic, was left dying in the street before succumbing to his “catastrophic” injuries in hospital the following day. Banned driver Christopher Daly, 42, callously fled the scene of the crash and then denied that he had been driving as his gas fitter colleague Patrick Heron, 38, reported the vehicle stolen while he was supposedly in the pub.
On Thursday, Heron, of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, blew a kiss to his tearful loved ones as he too was locked up – joining Daly, who was convicted of death by dangerous driving and admitted death by careless driving and death by driving while disqualified and uninsured. Daly was jailed for 12 years last August.
Jailing Heron for 14 months for perverting the cause of justice, Judge Denis Watson KC said: “John Newton was a much loved individual by his family and friends.
“He was very active. He was knocked down last year while jogging by Christopher Daly, who was driving a van which you had hired dangerously.
“Your role was to tell the police that the van which was used in this way by Daly had, in fact, been stolen by somebody from a street.
“Your previous convictions are extensive. They could be said to display a selfish disregard for others. You have done, in the past, whatever suits your own interests.
“Mr Daly was a colleague and close associate of yours. I am satisfied that you must have known of his inability to drive.
“Others who know you paint a different side to you, particularly of more recent years. It is clear to me that you have attempted to put some of your behaviour behind you.”
The court heard the pair exchanged a series of phone calls in the hours following the crash and the following day.
A man named only as “Darren” meanwhile sent the former a picture of Merseyside Police recovering the damaged van from outside the latter’s home address the same evening.
Prosecutor Graham Pickavance said Heron made an emergency call from a phone booth outside the Clubmoor in Anfield at around 1pm the following day, reporting his van stolen from near the same pub the previous evening.
A recording of this exchange was played to the court, with Heron telling the call handler: “Hiya love, I just need to report my van stolen.”
“I’ve woke up this morning. My key and my van’s nowhere to be seen. I’ve mislaid them in the pub somewhere, or they’ve been taken without me noticing. I got a taxi home last night because I had a drink.
“I came back to look for my keys, and the van has gone as well. They’re both nowhere to be seen. I’ve had a few sherbets, I’ve been on the pints. I was a little bit drunk, d’ya know what I mean? I lost my phone too.”
His 999 call also ultimately led to him being arrested on suspicion of being the driver.
Daly, of Walton Village, Walton, was travelling along the 30mph limit road in the early evening when he switched lanes without indicating “in close proximity” to another vehicle to his rear.
Then, as the dad approached the junction of Parthenon Drive and Lorenzo Drive, a set of traffic lights changed from green to amber.
Instead of stopping, however, he sped up to between 44 and 56 mph, and the lights changed to red before he passed through them.
Mr Newton was crossing the road at the other side of the junction while out for a jog and was struck by Daly’s van, with his “bright yellow cap thrown into the air from the force of the collision”.
Mr Newton suffered “catastrophic injuries” as a result of the incident and died in hospital on February 26 from “massive blunt force head and chest injuries”.
Daly meanwhile sped off from the scene of the crash, leaving his victim lying gravely injured in the road.
He then abandoned his “extensively damaged” vehicle and, despite his fingerprints later linking him to the van, claimed he had not been the driver when arrested on March 1, 2024.
His criminal record includes scores of previous court appearances for motoring offences, including being ordered not to drive until he passed an extended retest in 2003.
However, he never did so, meaning that he had not legally been able to drive for around 21 years at the time of the incident.
Tom Watson, defending Heron, said his client had been seriously injured in an unrelated crash the previous year, adding: “He expresses his apology and has reflected that a family have suffered and lost a member.
“Importantly, I submit that this defendant has been making significant efforts in the recent past to turn his life around.
“There is a side to this man which is positive, constructive and determined, despite what he has done. He has been with his partner now for three years.”