Shannen HeadleyWest Midlands
FamilyA man who drove his van into a woman on a golf course after being pursued by police has been jailed for 13 years and six months.
Suzanne Cherry died in hospital in April, four days after she was hit at Aston Wood Golf Club in Staffordshire.
John McDonald 52, of Booth Street in Bloxwich, West Midlands, admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Worcester Crown Court on Monday.
The 52-year-old along with two other men were involved in a roofing fraud at the time, the court heard, when their van was spotted by police and pursued on to the course where Cherry was playing with her husband.
Co-defendants Johnny McDonald, 23, of Molyneux Road, Dudley, and Brett Delaney, 35, of Michael Road, Darlaston, were also jailed – Johnny McDonald for 32 months, Delaney for 28 months.
All three men pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge each of conspiracy to commit fraud between 17 February and 12 April last year, by making false representations that roofing work was needed when it was not.
All three men had previously denied manslaughter charges last year.
Cherry’s husband Clint Harrison told the court on Monday that his wife’s death had left him without a future to look forward to and he only had “an empty present to survive”.
He said his “beautiful wife” had an “amazing and infectious zest for life” before their “future together was snatched away in an instant”.
Staffordshire PoliceThe court heard on Monday that the trio “were involved in a fraud on elderly householders”, charging “exorbitant amounts” for carrying out bad roof repairs.
On 11 April, a police officer in a marked vehicle saw them “by chance” and began to follow them after one of them turned their head away after noticing her – leading to the police pursuit.
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