'Justice shouldn't have expiry,' says victim's sister

Joe Luccarini suffered serious injuries when he was hit by a car in August last year while he was out walking

A woman whose brother was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash said "justice shouldn't have an expiry date" after the case was closed by police.

Joe Luccarini, 32, sustained a C1 fracture to his neck after he was hit by a car on Ehringshausen Way in Haverhill, Suffolk, late at night in August last year.

While police located a suspect, he fled and evaded officers for six months, leading them to close the case, the force said.

Suffolk Police told the BBC this was due to a statutory time limit elapsing, but Emily Luccarini expressed her disappointment in recently finding this out and called for a change in the law.

Miss Luccarini, who is 34 and also from Haverhill, said her brother, who is autistic, was left on the road "like an animal", completely unconscious, before a supermarket worker found him and was able to alert the emergency services.

While he was in hospital for several days, police started inquiries, as first reported by the East Anglian Daily Times.

Mr Luccarini's sister said he struggled to leave the house after the incident

Two days after the incident, a potential suspect vehicle was found, and the person believed to have been the driver was spoken to the following day.

Suffolk Police said they then had sufficient grounds to make an arrest on suspicion of causing serious injury by careless driving and failing to stop after a road accident, and attended two properties on 19 August to do so.

However, a force spokesperson said the individual was not present at either address, and they learnt he had fled to London.

A warrant was issued for his arrest, but police said there was no information on where he might be, and his mobile phone was no longer active.

Emily Luccarini said she wanted to do all she could to get justice for her brother

According to the force, these offences are classed as summary offences under the Road Traffic Offenders Act, meaning the suspect "must be laid before the court within six months of the time from when the offence was committed".

"Unfortunately, the statutory time limit in respect of this incident expired in February, which means that no further action can now be taken against the suspect," Suffolk Police said.

Mr Luccarini was supported by social workers who were trying to rebuild his confidence, his sister said

Miss Luccarini said of her brother: "He very rarely leaves the house and, to my knowledge, he has not attempted to cross a road since the incident.

"I took years of support to grow his confidence to go out into the community independently. That has been destroyed."

Miss Luccarini, who said he had never heard of the six-month limitation before, will launch a petition calling for it to be scrapped.

"It enables offenders to run away from the responsibility of their crime, and victims are silenced," she said.

"It's wrong; it's outdated. Justice shouldn't have an expiry date."

Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore, said he believed the law needed to be reviewed

Suffolk's Police and Crime Commissioner, Conservative Tim Passmore, said: "This does need to be reviewed.

"It can't be right... You should be able to reopen a case."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said road user safety was "a top priority for the government".

"We are considering a range of policies relating to motoring offences as part of our upcoming strategy for road safety - the first in over a decade," they added.