A DRIVER who mowed down a pedestrian, leaving him with fatal injuries, showed a ‘callous disregard’ for his victim, said a judge.

Sentencing Daniel Salvin to seven years and four months in prison, the Honorary Recorder of Bolton, Martin Walsh told him: “Nothing that this court can do will put right the harm caused by you on that fateful night.”

Salvin, who was sentenced on his 23rd birthday, had been racing another car on September 20 when his Vauxhall Vectra hit 59-year-old John Richardson as he crossed Rishton Lane, Great Lever.

But Salvin, who only had a provisional licence and no insurance, did not stop, his car was found on fire a short distance away and he fled to Northern Ireland.

Mr Richardson died a week after the collision and after his arrest, Salvin pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Judge Walsh told Salvin: “Your failure to stop or to render assistance shows a callous disregard for the welfare of Mr Richardson who sustained fatal injuries as a direct result of the manner in which you were driving your vehicle.”

The court had heard how, shortly before the collision at 10pm, Salvin, of Eustace Street, Bolton, had been involved in a confrontation with another motorist when her Mercedes was scraped by his car as he passed her on Hawthorne Street.

Verbal abuse was shouted towards her and a passenger in Salvin’s car attacked her vehicle with a baseball bat.

“You are not to be sentenced for this, but this confrontation and the manner in which it occurred is indicative of an air of aggression which goes some way towards explaining the nature of the driving that followed,” said Judge Walsh.

The court heard how Salvin had spent the day visiting friends and pubs in Bolton and Westhoughton but it could not be established whether he was above the drink drive limit as he fled the scene after racing the driver of a VW Golf, who has not yet been traced.

The judge told him: “There is evidence of aggressive driving over a prolonged and persistent period.

“Not only had there been an abusive confrontation with another road user, but you then involved yourself in competitive driving at speed with another motorist.

“All this occurred in a residential area limited by a 30mph speed limit. Your manner of driving involved a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road.”

In a moving statement to the court, Mr Richardson’s son, John Stephens, had told how he tried to comfort the grandfather-of-nine as he lay dying in the street.

“Nobody should ever have to see their father dying on the ground. I held his hand while he was on the ground and he effectively died at the scene,” he said.

Mr Richardson had been crossing Rishton Lane and was just a couple of paces away from reaching the kerb when he was hit by Salvin’s Vectra and suffered multiple injuries.

The grandfather survived for a week before his devastated family had to make the decision to turn off his life support machines.

The court heard that, as a youth, Salvin had convictions for dishonesty offences, but has non for motoring convictions and has never served a prison sentence before.

Had Salvin been convicted after a trial he would have been sentenced to 11 years in jail but the term had to be reduced to 88 months because he pleaded guilty.

Judge Walsh commented: “The sentence that I impose cannot and is not intended to reflect the value of the life which has been tragically

lost.

“Nothing that this court will do will put right the harm caused by you on that fateful night.

“A life has been lost and the impact of that upon those who have to pick up the pieces has been movingly articulated in the victim impact statement which was read to the court.”