Man admits manslaughter after dragging victim under car

Pierce Whelan left a second pedestrian with broken bones and cuts

A motorist dragged a woman under his car for half a mile before leaving her body on the road side.

Nawelle Ormerod was fatally injured in the Nuneaton incident, in what a prosecutor said was one of the worst hit and run cases they had come across.

Pierce Whelan, 36, had been smoking cannabis and drinking before he hit Ms Ormerod and another pedestrian.

He admitted Ms Ormerod's manslaughter and also causing serious injury to a pedestrian.

He will be sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on 6 February.

'Broken bones and cuts'

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said he dragged Ms Ormerod "under his car for around 900 metres before leaving her body on Marlborough Road".

The second pedestrian, a 28-year-old man, was thrown over Whelan's car and suffered broken bones and cuts to his arms, the CPS said.

Witnesses reported seeing two pedestrians hit last year

Witnesses reported seeing Whelan, of no fixed abode, hit the two pedestrians with his Peugeot 406 at the junction of Roanne Ringway and Coton Road as they crossed the road to a footpath protected by a railing fence on 19 June 2021.

"This is one of the worst hit and run cases I have come across," said senior crown prosecutor Emily Clewer.

"Pierce Whelan knowing fully well he had hit someone failed to stop at the scene and continued driving his car with no regards for Nawelle Tina Ormerod who was trapped beneath his car."

Windscreen damaged

She said he had been "drinking and smoking cannabis" earlier and although a taxi had been called, he was seen on CCTV driving away from an address knowing he was unfit to drive.

After the crash, the defendant was captured on CCTV driving with his window down because of the severe damage to his windscreen.

He was arrested when he went to a police station later that day.