Man killed care worker in hit-and-run crash in Walsall

A man who struck and killed a care worker in a hit-and-run crash was driving at motorway speeds and on the wrong side of the road, police said.

Kulvinder Kaur, 52, died at the scene when she was struck by a Peugeot 206 in Cavendish Road, Walsall.

Lewis Jukes, 20, Bloxwich, admitted causing death by dangerous driving, and other motoring offences.

At Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, he was jailed for seven years and four months.

West Midlands Police said Jukes had been travelling at "motorway speeds" at the time of the crash.

Mrs Kaur, it said, had walked halfway across the road when she was hit by the Peugeot which was travelling on the wrong side of the road.

The force said officers had traced CCTV footage showing Jukes, of Providence Lane, get into the driver's seat of the grey Peugeot in a car park on the Beechdale housing estate in Walsall.

This was at about 12.30 BST, on 12 September, before the car was seen at 13:00, the time of the accident, in Cavendish Road.

The car was later found abandoned in nearby Gurney Road,.

West Midlands Police said four days after the crash, Jukes handed himself in to officers.

Det Sgt Paul Hughes, from the force's serious collision investigation unit, said: "Excess speed in any case is never acceptable but motorway speeds like this through a residential street is nothing but despicable."

Jukes had additionally admitted driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, failing to stop at the scene and failing to provide information.

At the court, he was also disqualified from driving for eight years and eight months.

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