AN UNINSURED engineer who left a man to die after hitting him with his BMW on Boxing Day 2016 has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Burnley Crown Court heard how victim Gary Lord had decided to go for a drink in Burnley with friend Kelly Walsh and a second woman at around midnight and got a taxi to Yorkshire Street.

Mr Lord, who lived in Brunshaw, was walking across the road towards The Turf pub and the Princess Royal, but was struck by a BMW being driven by 24-year-old Marcus Alexander Crossley.

Mr Lord sustained multiple injuries and was taken to Royal Preston Hospital. But he died around a week later.

Prosecuting, Paul Cummings said the BMW briefly stopped but then sped off, dangerously overtaking other vehicles.

The court heard that instead of ringing for an ambulance, Crossley, of Bowland Avenue, Burnley, called his co-defendant Aaron Pierce, who he had bought the car from just days earlier.

Pierce, 32, of Wycollar Avenue, Burnley, went to Crossley’s mother’s house to remove the number plates from the BMW. He also helped Crossley hide the car under a tarpaulin.

Police went to Bowland Avenue the following morning after a tip-off and found the BMW.

Crossley attended a voluntary police interview and said he had seen a group of people crossing Yorkshire Street and slowed down but sped up after they had safely made it onto the pavement. He said Mr Lord had ‘run across the road without warning’ and after hitting him he panicked and drove off ‘because of the stress of the situation’.

But witnesses described Crossley speeding off like he was ‘showing off’’ and had accelerated prior to the fatal collision. An investigation found the BMW was travelling between 43 and 47mph when it hit Mr Lord.

In a statement, Mr Lord’s sister Susan Greenhalgh said: “This whole thing has devastated an entire family. If Marcus Crossley had stopped and tried to help Gary or even rung an ambulance we would have had some compassion for him. But he chose to drive away leaving Gary broken in the road and hide the evidence. And for that we feel he needs to be punished by the court.

“Gary was a good son, brother and much loved uncle. He was a very popular man and he has been cruelly taken from us. Our lives have changed forever and will never be the same without Gary.”

Crossley pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while uninsured and conspiring to pervert the course of justice. Pierce, a former car dealer, admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Defending Crossley, Philip Holden said: “He was a young man who panicked. There were a lot of present on a busy street and he left.

“He telephoned his sister, who is in court, and told her what had happened. She in turn contacted their mother and then it was agreed he would hand himself in to the police the following day.

“He was 22-years-of-age and the time of the offence. He is 24 now. He has always, since leaving college at the age of 18, been in full-time employment. He is a hardworking man and an industrious man.”

Defending Pierce, Brendan O'Leary said his client regretted his actions and hadn’t realised how serious Mr Lord’s injuries were when he committed the offence. He also said Pierce was more interested in removing his link to the car than helping Crossley.

Mr O'Leary said: “Although he was not directly involved in the incident he accepts what he did would have had an impact on the investigation. It is serious and he doesn’t minimise the seriousness of what he did.

“His guilty plea is accompanied by genuine remorse from Mr Pierce. He describes Boxing Day 2016 as being the worst day of his life. He describes being ashamed and embarrassed. He describes being devastated when he heard Mr Lord had passed away because of his injuries.”

Pierce was jailed for six months. Crossley was also disqualified from driving for three years and told to take an extended re-test.

Judge Simon Medland QC said: “No sentence that any court could ever pass for an offence of causing death by careless driving could ever equate with the misery this offence has caused. In a moving victim persoval statement I have been informed this offence has devastated an entire family.”