Brierley crash: Stolen lorry 'out of control' before hitting woman

Jacqueline Wileman was run down by a lorry moments before it ploughed in to a house, Sheffield Crown Court heard

A stolen lorry was seen "swerving all over the road" moments before it hit and killed a pedestrian and careered in to a house, a court has heard.

Jacqueline Wileman, 58, was struck while she was power walking in Brierley, near Barnsley, in 2018.

Robert Pilkington told Sheffield Crown Court the lorry was "out of control" as it ran over Mrs Wileman and almost hit him.

Three men deny causing death by dangerous driving.

In a statement read to the court, Mr Pilkington said he had been cycling along Common Road when he saw the lorry coming towards him.

"I could see the lorry was out of control, it was swerving all over the road," he said.

"The lorry mounted the verge where the female was stood. All I could think was 'get out of the way'.

"Within a split second the lorry ran straight over the female, she went straight under the wheels."

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He said as he pulled in to a side road to avoid being hit, he heard a "loud bang and a crash" and looked round to see the vehicle embedded in the side of a house.

He said two men - later identified as Karn Hill and Wayne Carroll - had climbed out of the lorry and tried to run away but were stopped by passers-by.

'Trapped beneath the wall'

Prosecutors say David Mellor, 48, Mr Carroll, 29, and Alan Mawhinney, 53, were in the cab of the lorry together with Hill, 23, when it struck Mrs Wileman.

The jury has previously heard Mr Mellor had taken the tractor unit from his employers earlier that day and it had been spotted driving dangerously around the area.

Firefighter Philip Morgan said inside he found a man in the front passenger seat trapped beneath the wall of the house.

In his statement, he said the man told him he was a 53-year-old hitch hiker who had been picked five minutes before the crash.

The court heard Mr Mellor was arrested nearby after being spotted acting suspiciously by a member of staff at the Burntwood Court hotel.

Mr Mellor, of Bank End Road, Worsbrough Dale, Mr Carroll, of Chestnut Street, Grimethorpe, and Mr Mawhinney, of Calder Crescent, Kendray, all deny causing death by dangerous driving

Mr Carroll and Mr Mawhinney also deny a charge of aggravated vehicle taking.

Hill, of East View, Cudworth, has admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

The trial continues.