Hit-and-run killer 'shows no remorse'
Dec 8 2006 By Hilary Clixby, The Journal
A disqualified driver has admitted he killed a dinner lady and left two young girls seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash.
Alan Steel was behind the wheel of a Cherokee Jeep which ploughed into Paula Stead, 32, her daughter Bridie and her cousin's daughter Danica Green in St Luke's Road, Sunderland.
Steel, who had taken heroin on the day - September 21 this year - abandoned the powerful 4x4 and fled but police arrested him the next day.
Mrs Stead, who was on her way home to nearby Forest Road, was dead on arrival at Sunderland General Hospital.
Bridie, 11, a pupil at Pennywell Comprehensive in Sunderland, suffered a shattered elbow and right foot.
Danica, 10, a Highfield Primary School pupil of St Luke's Road, had to have a leg amputated and suffered arm injuries.
Mrs Stead, who had worked as a dinner lady at Southmoor Community School for two years, was said to have died trying to shield the two girls.
It later emerged she and her husband John, a landscape gardener whom she married last year, were about to start a new life in the South Hylton area of Sunderland.
At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, Steel, 26, of St Luke's Road, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance, failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident.
He was further remanded in custody for sentencing on January 8 to allow further investigations into the case and for a probation report to be prepared on Steel, which will also assess the danger he poses to the public.
Judge Esmond Faulks told him jail was inevitable and he may face an indefinite term under new public protection laws.
Det Insp Arthur Cowell later thanked the local community in helping police identify the driver.
He said: "Throughout the investigation, Alan Steel has shown no remorse whatsoever. He has shown no compassion.
"Following the collision, with three people in obvious need of serious medical attention, he chose to leave the scene - I hope he receives a substantial custodial sentence."
The Independent Police Complaints Commission investigated reports that a Northumbria Police vehicle had been following the Jeep, but an IPCC spokesman said a full assessment of all the available evidence had ruled out any concern about police action on that night.
