6 months ago
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A hero mother who pushed her baby girl's pram to safety before being mown down by a drunken hit-and-run driver has revealed she missed her child's first birthday and issued a warning to other boozed up motorists.
Becky Sharp was crossing the road with her 11-month-old daughter when scaffolder Dale Clark crashed into her after a vodka binge, throwing the 36-year-old mother into the air 'like a ragdoll', before driving off and leaving her for dead.
Her daughter was miraculously unharmed after her pushchair was shoved out of the way. But Becky was left with serious brain injuries and multiple fractures and only managed to come out of an eight-week coma in July.
Clark, 38, from New Milton, Hampshire, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop at an accident and drink driving. He was today jailed for three years and eight months.
Speaking outside court, mother-of-three Mrs Sharp told local paper the New Milton Advertiser: 'I really felt I wanted to be here to find out what happened. I wanted to see him in court.
'I have no memory of the accident. My life has been turned upside down. I say to people, don't do drugs, or drink and drive, the outcome is never good.'
A hit-and-run driver who crashed into hero mother Becky Sharp, 36, as she pushed her baby's pram out of the way has today been jailed
Mrs Sharp (pictured today at Bournemouth Crown Court) was crossing the road to take her 11-month-old daughter to a play park when Dale Clark crashed into her
Clark, a scaffolder from New Milton, Hampshire, was today sentenced to jail for three years and eight months
Mrs Sharp revealed her horrific injuries meant she had missed her youngest daughter's first teeth, her first birthday, and added: 'And then she started walking.'
Prosecuting, Andy Houston said Clark had 'girls and drugs on his mind' when he struck Mrs Sharp at 9am on Redhill Avenue, Bournemouth, on April 11.
The day before the accident he had been staying at an inn after a falling out with his grandparents, who he lived with.
The cleaners found two empty litre bottles of vodka and his phone records showed he had been contacting his drug dealers at 7.30 that morning.
He travelled to Bournemouth, using his phone as a sat nav in his lap and driving in excess of 40mph in the 30mph road.
Clark was in the right hand lane when he suddenly veered across to the left, where Mrs Sharp and her daughter were crossing.
Mr Houston said: 'The driver behind described it as he 'shot across and accelerated hard'.
'Mrs Sharp heroically pushed away the buggy to save the child. She was projected about the length of a cricket pitch in the air, thrown like a ragdoll.
'She landed face down with blood around her nose, struggling to breathe.'
Mrs Sharp was given a blood transfusion at the roadside and airlifted to Southampton hospital, arriving in a vegetative state.
The hero mother (pictured with her husband Dan) suffered severe head injuries in the incident
Becky came out of an eight week coma in July but she still has a long way to go with her rehabilitation journey
Becky's (pictured) husband Dan said his family's lives had changed forever and Clark had shown no compassion when he left Becky for dead in the street
She had a severe traumatic brain injury, fracture to the skull, ribs, pelvis and lower left leg and a lacerated spleen.
Her husband Dan said his family's lives had changed forever and Clark had shown no compassion when he left Mrs Sharp for dead in the street.
He described the difficulty of dealing with his children's 'pain and confusion' that their mother was not there and how much she had missed out on while recovering in hospital.
Their three daughters are aged eight, six and one.
He said: 'Thankfully, our 11-month-old daughter was left unhurt thanks to Becky's instincts to save her life in that moment.
'But the lives of Becky, our daughters and our family and friends were changed forever when Dale Clark made the decision to leave her for dead in the street.
'She has missed our daughter's first birthday, first tooth and first steps - such precious times all stolen by Dale Clark.
'The whole period feels like a lifetime and I still don't know if I will be able to rebuild our life together.'
Mrs Sharp has ongoing cognitive issues and problems with her memory, suffers from fatigue and has physical complications from her leg fracture that mean she will suffer ongoing pain.
Her father Alan Higgin described her as 'bright, vivacious, kind and gentle'. He described the months following the accident as 'the worst time in our family's lives' and an 'all-consuming, numbing nightmare of worry'.
He said: 'The whole family are innocent victims of this callous and entirely avoidable accident.'
The scene on Redhill Avenue, Bournemouth, Dorset, after Mrs Sharp was hit by Dale Clark
The pram was also thrown into the air, but the baby was not harmed and taken to hospital as a precaution
The court heard a police officer had called Clark at 2.30pm and he immediately asked if the pedestrian was still alive and said he 'couldn't deal with it'.
His phone records also showed he had googled 'hit and run Bournemouth' that afternoon.
Clark was soon arrested and underwent a breath test at 4.22pm when he gave a reading of 46mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
When interviewed he told police he had consumed vodka and £210 worth of cocaine over the two days before the accident.
He said he had 'wiped her out' and admitted possibly being over the speed limit but said 'she literally stepped out of f***ing nowhere'.
Clark said when he saw her lying on the ground he 'went into panic mode, shit myself and ran away'.
Addressing Clark, Judge William Mousley said: 'You quite clearly were not looking where you were going and you hit Rebecca Sharp. Very lucky and miraculously she had pushed the pushchair ahead of her so you did not collide with her youngest child.
'The overall picture is that her life has been changed seriously forever. The impact on her and her family has been monumental.'
He said some may think the sentence is insufficient but he is limited by the law guidelines. He sentenced Clark to three years and eight months in prison and said he would be disqualified from driving for six years when released.
Speaking afterwards, Mrs Sharp said she was relieved the case was finished and felt she needed to be in court for the sentencing.
She said: 'I have no memory of the accident so it was good to hear from the barristers what happened.
'My message to anyone who thinks about drinking or taking drugs and driving is never do it, it's not good for anyone.
'My life has been turned upside down because of it and his (Clark) life has been turned upside down. The outcome is never good.'
Dan Sharp, his friend and a brother-in-law are running the London Marathon to raise funds for Brain Research UK.
You can donate at https://2024tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/ross-macleod
