Driver involved in fatal hit-in-run near Hook jailed

Luke John, of Forest Road, Woodley, was driving home with friends after a trip to The Leather Bottle pub on Reading Road (B3349), Hook, on the night of Tuesday, September 17 2019, when he “mowed down” a motorcyclist while driving at nearly twice the speed limit.

Winchester Crown Court heard today (April 1) how the 26-year-old’s Silver Toyota Supra pulled out of the car park just 12 seconds after motorcyclist Tenny Turner passed the pub.

Mr Welling, prosecuting, told the court that inside the car music was blaring and the passengers were shouting, encouraging John to drive faster and faster.

On the 40mph road, John was driving at between 61 and 79mph.

Mr Turner slowed to turn left on the junction with Vicarage Lane, when John’s vehicle went into the back of him, knocking him from the bike onto the road.

Mr Welling said no attempt was made by John to brake or slow down, and he did not stop after the incident, instead driving a further 15 miles with one headlight out and defective tyres and bodywork.

A passerby stopped and called an ambulance and Mr Turner was taken to hospital with a broken left arm and hip and a broken pelvis.

But the court heard that he had underlying health conditions and sadly died the following day, “because the combined effects of his injuries were too much for his heart to take.”

It wasn’t until the next morning that John did the “barest minimum” and handed himself into the police station, “playing down what he knew to be true”, said Mr Welling.

He added: “His speed was almost double the limit and was such that he was in no position to react to an emergency.

“He may have been distracted by the behaviour of his passengers and the music, but he should have compensated for that.”

He continued by highlighting that John fled the scene.

“There is so suggestion that that could have altered the outcome, but he did not know that.”

Mr Turner was wearing dark clothing and his bike did not have indicators, so he relied on hand singles. However, his back lights were working and so visibility was considered better than that of a cyclist, said Mr Welling.

Speaking in court, the Mr Turner’s daughters, Elaine and Nicola, described their father as their “idol”.

“My dad was the heart and sole of our family. His face would light up a room,” said Elaine.

“It stuns me that the three people in the car left him no different than an animal on the side of the road, in a ditch to die.”

The father-of-three ran a boxing academy aimed at inspiring young people into the sport and was well known and loved in the boxing community.

The 53-year-old was married to his wife, Elaine, for 32 years and was a “caring” father and grandfather.

Nicole added: “Accidents happen every day, but it is the actions afterwards that count.

“I have been robbed of a loving father. The feeling chokes me every time in my mum and dad’s house when I am looking at an empty seat on the sofa he would call his seat. It is a continuous nightmare we can never wake up from. He was our king.”

Mr McCann, defending John,said his submissions “do not in any way attempt to diminish the hurt”.

He said his client had struggled as an eldest child with an ADHD diagnosis. He had been given a youth rehabilitation order for an unrelated previous offence, and had made the most of the apprenticeship employment opportunities given to him then, later setting up his own company.

He said he was now trying to “pay back the family that gave him so much” and was often “trusted to help”, including with childcare for relatives.

Mr McCann added that the act of “stupidity” was not “the totality of all this man is or will be” and that, despite the lack of CCTV or direct witnesses to the incident, he turned himself in.

He quoted from a letter written by John, which read: “I think about what I could have done differently. I wish I had not been distracted, had paid more attention. I thought I was strong but instead I was weak.

He continued: “Several times I have been to the scene of the accident. I have sat and talked to Mr Turner. I have told him I wish it was me instead of him. I have thought about killing myself so many times.

“I promise there won’t be a day in my life when I won’t think of him, all of his family, and what I have done.”

Recorder James Watson QC described Mr Turner as a “family man” and “deservedly loved grandfather, father, brother, husband” who “gave his time, skills and commitment through the boxing academy he set up.”

He added: “His life should not have ended so tragically and so early.”

Addressing John, he continued: “When the victim was riding home on his motorcycle, your car drove up behind him as he was slowing and mowed him down.

“Your selfish disregard for the safety of anyone else has brought about this tragedy. The speed was grossly excessive, beyond any form of forgivable inadvertance.”

Recorder Watson acknowledged that the level of noise and behavior of the passengers “resembled that of individuals on a rollercoaster”, but described John's actions as “morally culpable in a high degree”, adding: “You were well aware that you were involved in a serious incident and yet it was the following morning that you came to your senses and handed yourself to the police station voluntarily.”

He handed John a 4 year custodial sentence and 6.5 year driving disqualification, after which he must sit an “extended driving test” to re-apply for a license.