Hit-and-run driver sang Shaggy's 'It Wasn’t Me' as pregnant woman lost baby after Bamber Bridge collision
A hit-and-run driver laughed and sang Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” moments after ploughing into a pregnant care home worker in Bamber Bridge - an impact that killed her unborn baby boy.
Renju Joseph, 31, was five months pregnant when she was struck at high speed by Ashir Shahid, 20, as she walked on a pedestrian crossing in Station Road on the evening of September 29.
Preston Crown Court heard the Toyota Prius was travelling at between 58mph and 71mph in wet conditions in a 30mph zone.
Mrs Joseph, a healthcare assistant, was walking slightly behind two colleagues at about 7.50pm as they headed to a night shift when Shahid’s car swerved past the first two pedestrians and hit her.
She was “thrown into the air for quite some distance” before tumbling and rolling into the car.
She suffered serious head and spinal injuries and was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered her unborn son’s life was in severe jeopardy.
Prosecutor Emma Keogh said: “An emergency C-section had to be carried out in an attempt to save the unborn child’s life. The placenta had ruptured and Mrs Joseph had bled quite heavily.
“Her child was born that evening but sadly he only survived for a few hours before passing away.
“This was her very first pregnancy with her husband who she married about five years earlier. This was a planned pregnancy and very much wanted.”
Footage from Shahid’s front-seat passenger’s mobile phone showed the pair laughing and singing to music while the car was driven erratically and at speed.
At times, the passenger had his feet out of the window while Shahid removed both hands from the wheel.
Minutes after the collision, the Toyota was abandoned in nearby Lostock Hall.
It was later moved onto a flatbed truck and taken to Farnworth, Greater Manchester, where police found it days later.
Shahid was arrested at an address in Kirkham after he had spent several days lying low at a friend’s house in Accrington.
He made no comment when interviewed but when his phone was examined it revealed that on the night of the collision he made an online search for “charge for hit and run human”.
A video clip on his Snapchat account showed him singing along to the Shaggy song “It Wasn’t Me” and laughing.
Shahid, of Windsor Road, Walton le Dale, Preston, pleaded guilty in June to causing the death of Mrs Joseph’s baby Olive by dangerous driving.
He also admitted causing serious injury to Mrs Joseph by dangerous driving.
Shahid will be sentenced on Friday along with a 17-year-old male who pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.