A man has been found guilty of murdering a 22-yr-old woman after he hit her with a car outside a snack bar in Shropshire.
Stephen McHugh ‘used his car as a weapon’ to drive into a crowd of pedestrians in Oswestry, killing Rebecca Steer. He never had a driver’s license.
McHugh, 28, told the court he drank six beers and 10 doubles and took up to seven lines of cocaine before the ordeal at 2.45am on Sunday October 9 last year, reports Sky News.
His car hit the curb outside the Grill Out restaurant in Oswestry, hitting innocent bystander Ms Steer.
She was pinned under the vehicle and died from “catastrophic” injuries.
Prosecutor Kevin Hegarty KC told the court that McHugh stopped in the street and spoke to a group of people near the Grill Out.
Mr Hegarty told the court McHugh continued to drive through the group after the manoeuvre, adding: “We say he used his car as a weapon – he used the power and the weight of the car to strike the group,” reports Sky News.
Three people were hit, including two men who were “knocked aside” by the front wing.
“Rebecca Steer was more towards the front of the car and as the car increased its speed – as it went through the group, she was dragged down under the car,” Mr Hegarty added, reports Sky News.
In court, McHugh admitted manslaughter and assault and claimed he was trying to scare pedestrians after a nearby altar.
A jury at Stafford Crown Court voted by an 11-1 majority to find McHugh guilty of murder and attempted grievous bodily harm.
When the verdict of murder was announced, McHugh – originally from Liverpool but living near Oswestry at the time of the attack – swore and quickly left the dock before a decision was made on the second charge.
After the trial, it emerged that he had previous convictions in Merseyside in 2019 for drugs and the seizure of a sawn-off shotgun.
A statement from the victim’s family said: “Rebecca Adelaide Steer, Becca to us, Becky to everyone else, was a pure joy to have as a daughter/sister and we all feel lucky to have had her in our lives, but we will always feel robbed. We all get to live a life, but through no fault of her own whatsoever, her life was taken from her by a few seconds of someone else’s stupidity,” reports Sky News.
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