Banned driver hit woman, 83

A DISQUALIFIED driver, on bail for allegedly stealing a car and free on licence from a jail sentence, ran down and killed an 83-year-old woman as she crossed the road, an Old Bailey court heard yesterday.

After he first hit her, Lee Brown, 25, then drove over Nancy Joyce's body, dragging it under his car for 100 yards before running off, said David Walters, for the prosecution. Miss Joyce died from multiple fractures and head injuries.

Three months before the incident Brown had been released on licence from a nine-month jail term for offences including reckless driving.

Within a month of his release he was arrested for allegedly unlawfully taking a car and driving while disqualified. He was bailed although he was in breach of his licence.

Brown, of Bermondsey, south London, admitted manslaughter, driving while disqualified and driving a car knowing it was stolen. He was remanded in custody for pre-sentence reports.

One witness said that when Miss Joyce was hit 'she went straight up into the air about 12 feet', landing halfway across the carriageway in the Old Kent Road, south London.