Drunk mother from Newbold who ran over and killed boyfriend thought she had hit traffic cone

A drunk mother who ran over and killed her boyfriend one day before his 28th birthday after downing pints thought she had hit a traffic cone.

Lucy Quirke, 38, left John Wright, 27, with catastrophic head injuries, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver after running him over in Derbyshire.

Derby Crown Court heard how Quirke had been drinking all day and did not realise what she had done to John.

The care worker told police she thought John was a traffic cone thrown by the victim, but moments later after seeing him lying in the road, she was heard by witnesses screaming: "Help, help, he's dead, he's dead, I don't know what to do."

Mr Wright, one of six children, suffered a fractured skull, fractured ribs and a lacerated liver caused by the 38-year-old woman who blew a roadside breath test of almost twice the legal limit.

Quirke was described as "hysterical and crying" by paramedics and police who arrived at the scene.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Wright's mother Sue, told how she still sleeps with her youngest son's ashes next to her as she cannot bear to be without him.

Quirke was handed a 15-month jail sentence.

Sentencing, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "Your negligence behind the wheel led to the loss of life of the man you loved.

"Sadly, on 25 October 2021, John Wright got into the passenger side of your car and you got into the driver's seat, both of you had been drinking.

"It was you who chose to do so (drive) and somehow Mr Wright ended up in the carriageway and no one will ever really know how. You were not paying attention and you did not see him.

"Tragically you ran over him and you had no idea at that stage what you had done, you thought you had run over a traffic cone. You worked for many years in the care industry making people feel at ease in their darkest hours.

"People who work with you speak of your downward spiral since the day of the incident. In your letter (to Mr Wright's family) you say you would swap places with John in a heartbeat and you will carry the guilt with you for the rest of your life."

Prosecuting solicitor Sarah Slater said Mr Wright and Quirke had been in a relationship since August 2021.

She said on the evening of 25 October, they were in the Moonrakers pub, in Keswick Drive, Chesterfield, celebrating his upcoming 28th birthday.

The prosecutor said: "There is CCTV footage recovered from the public house and this confirms that the defendant and the deceased arrived at 5.08pm. The defendant was drinking lager throughout in half pints and in total it that she consumed four pints between 5.08pm and 9.23pm.

"The footage also shows her drinking what appears to be a shot of alcohol at 10.09pm and a short drink at 10.13pm and they leave the public house at 10.58pm. The defendant then drove herself and the deceased away from the public house in her white Vauxhall Corsa."

Miss Slater said Quirke drove them both to Mr Wright's home in Winchester Road, Newbold where she stopped her vehicle and it remained stationary at the side of the road until the victim can be seen to get out of the passenger side of the vehicle.

She said: "He then walks around the front of the defendant’s vehicle and must fall or is knocked to the road. The defendant has to manoeuvre around a parked vehicle in front of her car and she clearly did not see that the deceased had walked around the front of her vehicle and fallen to the side of her car.

"She drove off without checking properly and during the manoeuvre has driven over the head of Mr Wright. A figure could be seen in the road after she drove off and she returned and got out of her vehicle, approached the figure in the road, pushed him with her foot and then bends over."

Miss Slater said: "There are a number of witnesses who hear her vehicle in the road and later hear her shouting: 'help help' and 'he’s dead, he’s dead. I don’t know what to do'.

"They come out of their home addresses to help and when the defendant is heard talking to one neighbour called Gemma, who asks her what has happened, she replies 'he threw himself in front of my car, Gemma'."

The prosecutor said minutes later Quirke's best friend received the first of three calls from the defendant, who was crying and who during one of them said: "I think I’ve killed him."

She said the Corsa was removed from the scene, examined and found to be defect free.

Mr Wright, who lived at the address with his mother, died as a result of a catastrophic brain injury.

Miss Slater said: "The defendant was interviewed on 26 October and said that she had intended to leave her vehicle at the public house, but this changed.

"She said the intention had been for her to drop John Wright off at home, go to see her son and then return as his house was empty and they had a slight disagreement though and she decided to leave the deceased and drive home.

"She said she did not see him walk around the front of the vehicle and that she felt she had driven over something but thought it was a traffic cone which had been thrown by the deceased."

Quirke, of Lancaster Road, Newbold, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit. She has no previous convictions of any kind.

Mr Wright's mother, Sue, read her own victim impact statement to the court.

In the statement, she said: "To live a life without John is unbearable (and) this has left us, as a family, living in hell. My only hope is that John is in heaven and we can meet again."

In a second statement, made by the victim's younger sister, Joanne, she said: "My life changed in one moment due to one person and I am surrounded by emptiness and heartache.

"I want him to give me a big brother hug and tell me everything will be okay but I know it can't be because he's not there."

One of Mr Wright's older brothers, Alan, also gave a victim impact statement within which he said: "My last vision of my baby brother is of him lying in the road, dead. I can't feel the John-shaped hole that's been left in my life."

Quirke's solicitor James Horne said his client has a 16-year-old son and has worked for years in the healthcare industry and entered her guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.

He said: "She knows she got behind the wheel of the car while over the prescribed limit.

"This is a case where a couple made a joint decision at the end of the night, a deeply regrettable decision to drive back the one mile. It's highly unlikely this court will ever see her again."

In addition to her prison sentence, Judge Smith disqualified the defendant from driving for two years from the point of her prison release.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…