A “cowardly” driver who killed a young mother and left her stranded in a crash has been jailed.
Sharna Brook Burgin, 23, was fatally injured in the crash involving Leon Roberts, 25, on February 26 last year. Sheffield Crown Court heard on Friday that Roberts was driving Sharna and three other passengers to Sheffield after offering them a lift when he hit a taxi parked on the hard shoulder of the A57 Sheffield Parkway.
Prosecutor Ben Campbell said Roberts, of Ballifield Close, Sheffield, fled after 16 hours and handed himself in to police. Samples taken showed he had traces of cocaine, cannabis and alcohol in his system.
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Footage was shown to the court as Mr Campbell told how Roberts assured his passengers he “hadn’t been drinking” when they suggested he get a taxi. He said: “There was loud music playing in the vehicle. When he was in the overtaking lane his speed was described as 80mph to 90mph and a passenger told him to slow down and he said nothing about it.”
Mr Campbell said one of the passengers remembered that as the Mercedes they were in turned onto Sheffield Parkway, “the music got louder” and she and Sharna “shouted at him to slow down”. The prosecutor added: “She described him as a show-off and her impression was that they were doing about 100mph. She recorded some of the videos.”
It was said one of the passengers said: “I’m going to die” as Roberts drove. The court heard Roberts was seen fleeing the scene while his passengers were pulled to safety before the car burst into flames.
One witness remembered the crash happening but did not know how it happened. Mr Campbell said: “A woman was driving in the same direction as Mr Roberts but in front of him. She saw in her rear-view mirror what appeared to be some lights turning.
“She slowed down to look at it, afraid it was going to hit her, and she saw it hit a taxi. Her impression was that the vehicle had gone into the median before coming back across both lanes and hitting the taxi.”
It was said the taxi driver had pulled over on the hard shoulder before the collision after hearing noises coming from his vehicle. Mr Campbell said another witness, who was driving in the opposite direction, thought: “Wow, it’s flying” before seeing Roberts’ car hit the taxi. He said the car was travelling at around 100mph.
The court heard that the taxi driver was taken to hospital and the male passenger in Roberts’ car had to undergo surgery on his leg after sustaining injuries, as well as a scalp haematoma. Sharna was taken to intensive care where she was diagnosed as brain stem dead and had suffered “devastating brain damage”, as well as haemorrhage, basilar skull fractures, rib and vertebral fractures and a laceration to her liver. She died in hospital.
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The other female passenger suffered tissue injuries to her head and cuts and abrasions to her shoulder and right hip. Roberts said in his police interview on February 27 last year that he “went to pass a car on his left and kept accelerating and thought he had gone too far to the right and swerved to the other side.”
Mr Campbell said: “He said he couldn’t remember anything until he woke up in a wooded area. He said he had no intention of going any faster and that he had mentioned to the Mercedes garage that his car had skidded a couple of times and that he thought he needed new tyres, but they had reassured him.”
Roberts subsequently pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. In a victim personal statement summarised to the court, Sharna’s mother described “waking up every morning to a nightmare of what had happened.”
Mr Campbell said the events of that night would “haunt her forever”, adding: “She describes waking up to her phone ringing and the voice of a police officer. She describes feeling robbed of a future with her daughter. She will not have any more time with her daughter.
Sharna was one of the passengers in a blue Mercedes GLA that was involved in a crash (Image: Family of Sharna Burgin)
“She describes coming home to a quiet, empty house that Sharna used to fill with love and laughter.”
The court heard Sharna’s daughter cries before going to sleep, and her mother “does everything she can to comfort her but fears there is no love like a mother’s love”.
In mitigation, Ian Goldsack told the court that a number of references and a letter from Roberts had been handed into the court. He said: “All too often these cases involve people who may never have appeared in court.
“There are tragic consequences everywhere and everyone affected by what happened in those few moments in the early morning hours will carry it with them forever.
“That concerns Leon Roberts who I think summarised that in the letter he wrote himself. He struggles to accept what happened. The events he can still remember.”
The court heard that father-of-one Roberts did not go out because his partner was expecting their baby and he was saving money for the future. Mr Goldsack said he had a driving licence and was employed to drive. It was said that Roberts had no previous convictions on his record.
Sentencing Roberts to nine years and six months in prison, Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told him: “Anyone who drives a car under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both and then causes the death of another human being as a result of dangerous driving can expect to receive, and will receive, a severe sentence.
Sheffield Crown Court(Image: Katie Pugh)
“The matter is further aggravated by the fact that you seriously injured another person in the incident.”
Judge Richardson said Roberts had “devastated” Sharna’s family, telling him: “You caused this devastation through your arrogance and your desire to shamelessly show off to your friends by driving at excessive speed and losing control of a powerful Mercedes car…
“You were driving at approximately 100mph on a road where the speed limit was 50mph… You were not only arrogant and showy, you were also a coward. You ran away from the scene, leaving your friends to die and seriously injured and the other to die.
“What did you do? You drove off and turned yourself in many hours later when the effects of the alcohol had worn off. What a cowardly act. And I haven’t even mentioned the terrible driving.
“Your behaviour can only be described as despicable… You were brazenly showing off. There was evidence that you were actually increasing your speed. It was clear that you were driving exceptionally dangerously. You lost control of that car due to the speed and your intoxication.”
Roberts was also given a driving ban.
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