Man in court over death of judge hit by several cars

Matthew Mawdsley had been out celebrating with colleagues shortly before he was killed

A district judge was killed by an uninsured driver who was speeding and had smoked cannabis before the crash, a court has heard.

Matthew Mawdsley, from Manchester, suffered fatal injuries as he tried to cross the A38 Aston Expressway in Birmingham at about 22:00 GMT on 16 December 2022.

The court heard Mr Mawdsley was hit by a car being driven by Elliott Nash, 33, who was on his way home from working on a stall at a Christmas market.

Mr Nash, from Willenhall in Walsall, denies the charges.

Prosecutor Phillip Bradley KC said Mr Mawdsley, 54, had been out celebrating with his colleagues and had continued drinking into the evening before attempting to walk back to the hotel he was staying in.

The court heard that he fell to the ground after being struck by Mr Nash’s black Ford Kuga and was then hit by another car, suffering catastrophic head injuries as well as fractures to his pelvis, ribs and hip.

Mr Bradley told the jury Mr Mawdsley's attempt to cross the busy road may have been affected by alcohol, but that Mr Nash simply should not have been driving in the first place.

He said: “The collision was captured by CCTV. Putting aside the obvious horror of the footage, you will see Mr Mawdsley was clearly visible to oncoming traffic - it is a well-lit area and although this is a busy carriageway, it is subject to a 30mph speed limit.

"Although you might not ordinarily expect to see pedestrians crossing, given the time of year, with people out celebrating, you would expect drivers to be appropriately vigilant."

He added that Mr Nash did not stop at the scene of the crash, but his car was traced back to his address by police at around 03:00 the next morning.

Mr Bradley said: “He told police that he was aware a person had struck his car. He said he drove home and started drinking. There were empty bottles of brandy and rum.”

Mr Nash was breathalysed and was over the legal alcohol limit, but it was not possible to say if he was over the limit at the time of the crash.

Officers also took a drug swipe which was returned positive for cannabis, which the court heard was consistent with use before the crash.

After his arrest, Mr Nash told police he was "under the impression" he was insured on the vehicle.

However, Mr Bradley said Mr Nash had not been insured on the vehicle for two months before the incident.

He added that the car was travelling at “somewhere between 43mph and 46mph when he struck Mr Mawdsley” despite the speed limit.

Mr Bradley also said the defendant told police he was aware the impact had caused Mr Mawdsley to fall to the ground.

He said Mr Nash denied smoking cannabis before the collision, saying he had only smoked when he returned home at about 22:30.

Mr Bradley added that Mr Nash had already pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and failing to stop at the scene of a collision at a previous hearing.

He told the jury: "The prosecution say this man's driving clearly and obviously contributed to the death of Mr Mawdsley and his actions afterwards, driving home and failing to alert the emergency services, occurred because he knew he contributed to what he must have known was a near certain fatality."

The trial, in front of Judge Sarah Buckingham, continues.