Dad and toddler mown down by hit-run driver

Oct 13 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A FATHER was killed and his two-year-old son seriously injured when a speeding car ploughed into a group of pedestrians.

Bryan Hardwick, 26, and toddler Liam were among a family group gathering conkers on Saturday afternoon when the accident happened.

The driver and front seat passenger of the car fled but were later arrested. They had been accused of stealing beer shortly before the incident and had reportedly sped through a red traffic light before the crash.

Last night Mr Hardwick’s partner Kayleigh Sanderson, 21, paid tribute to a “loving and devoted Dad”.

She said: “Bryan loved spending time with Liam and with our daughter, Brogan, who is three.

“He enjoyed taking Brogan fishing and also spending time with Liam, who was really a daddy’s boy. They had gone to get some conkers from St Andrew’s churchyard. They were on their way home when the accident happened.”

Ambulances and three helicopters attended the scene, on the A688 Bishop Auckland by-pass between the turn-off to South Church Industrial Estate and the Aldi roundabout, at about 4.45pm on Saturday.

Mr Hardwick, of Walker Drive, Bishop Auckland, was taken to Durham’s University Hospital where he died of his injuries. Liam was flown to Middlesbrough’s James Cook Hospital where his condition last night was said to be “serious but stable”.

Family friend Dave Weatherburn, 40, of Bishop Auckland was also injured and was taken to Darlington’s Memorial Hospital where he was said to be “serious”.

Kayleigh’s mother Gillian Sanderson, 39, of Proudfoot Drive, Bishop Auckland, described Mr Hardwick as a “lovely boy”.

She said: “A group of them went out to get some conkers on Saturday afternoon. As well as Bryan, Liam and Dave there was Liam’s sister Brogan, my partner Mark Elliott, our son Aaron, who is 11, and a friend of Aaron’s who is also 11.

“They were waiting at an island to cross the A688 when they were hit. From what I have been told a car slowed to let them cross, but then the car that hit them overtook it, lost control and went on to the pavement where they were standing. It hit Bryan, Liam and Dave. Bryan was a lovely boy devoted to his kids, we are now praying that Liam will pull through.”

Two of the car passengers – a 22-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy – were cut free after the crash. They were both taken to hospital with “serious” injuries. A man, 26, and a youth, 18, both from Bishop Auckland, fled but were arrested later.

It emerged last night they had been fleeing the Asda store in the centre of the town after staff confronted them over the alleged theft of a case of beer. Just over a mile from the supermarket, the driver of the car lost control at a traffic island and mounted the kerb, hitting Mr Hardwick, Liam and Mr Weatherburn.

Kayleigh said she did not blame the man believed to be driving the car.

She said: “Bryan knew him, it was an accident, he wouldn’t have meant to have killed Bryan. I don’t blame the lad, but he has to live with what has happened.”

Inspector Ken Pullan described the incident as “a wholly avoidable tragedy”.

He said: “From what we have been told the Rover was driving at high speed when it lost control as it tried to overtake another vehicle. Earlier staff at Asda supermarket had confronted the occupants over the suspected theft of a case of beer.

“The Rover 45, which we do not believe had been stolen, left the supermarket car park at high speed, went through traffic lights at red and was speeding along the A688 when it hit the three people who were standing on the pavement waiting to cross the road.”

Death driver is named

A PENSIONER who died following a car crash at the weekend has been named.

George Lumsden is believed to have suffered a heart attack close to his home while driving.

The 70-year-old lost control of his Citroen Xsara before it crashed into a Renault Megane which in turn hit a parked Vauxhall Astra van. The incident took place on Kingsway, in the Sunniside area of Gateshead, at about 3.20pm on Friday.

Mr Lumsden was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital but was dead on arrival.