The husband of an "amazing foster mum" is haunted by flashback after he watched her being run over and killed on their driveway.
Delroy Grant saw the tragedy unfold after the boy, who was 12 at the time, jumped into the Honda Civic and fatally knocked his wife Marcia, 60, to the ground. He spotted Marcia with her feet under the car, lying on her back.
The car carried on moving forwards and backwards, as Delroy begged him to stop, shouting that ‘Marcia was behind it’. But the youth then reversed the Honda Civic “at speed” and “like a dart” - leaving the car on top of her. The "amazing foster mum" described as a "credit to the system" died at the scene.
The youth, now 13, sat quietly in the glass dock in a black suit and tie, as he was sentenced after admitting causing death by dangerous driving and possession of a knife. The court heard he’d told Delroy, that he’d been a “gangster since he was nine” and carried a knife from a young age.
Sentencing him at Sheffield crown court on Thursday, Justice May, gave him two years custody at a secure children’s home and said he would be released on licence next year. He could be released in just five months, taking into account time already served.
Marcia’s daughter Gemma Grant told of the “real toll” his crime had taken on the family explaining how her mum had been a foster carer since 2016. Gemma, 40, said: “The one person who could have guided us through a trauma and tragedy like this isn’t here."
She said her dad has "frequent flashbacks and intrusive thoughts that leave him winded and crying. For months Delroy couldn’t stop shaking". She said he had "flashbacks of trying to get mum out from under the car and his “feelings of helplessness, anger and guilt so strong that he could not save his wife.
The court heard at an earlier hearing how the boy later told police: “I got my first kill”. Her shaking daughter, Gemma Grant, on Wednesday wiped away tears as she told the court how her mum wanted to “pull the world into a hug”. She said: “It floors me that the boy that killed her was greeted by a massive hug, “
The Judge, explaining her sentence, said the prosecution accepted this was not murder but a “bad accident” as he didn’t know how to drive. She said there was no evidence he intended to harm Mrs Grant on April 5 at her home in Sheffield. The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had crept out of Marcia’s home with her Honda Civic car keys and a kitchen knife, the court heard.
Prosecutor, Mark McKone KC, told the court her husband Delroy heard Marcia shout ‘someone’s taking the car’ and went outside. "Mr Grant was present when the car reversed over Marcia, who had already been knocked over, hitting her head on the road,” he said.
Eye witnesses told the court they saw Mr Grant banging on the window of the car, and eventually breaking it with a brick. The defendant then got out of the vehicle and ran away, before being caught by police a short time later. As he was arrested, he asked officers: ‘Is she dead?’ Then five minutes later said “it was an accident I swear."
In a prepared statement to police, the defendant said he was taking the car so that he could drive to see his mother. He said: "I had a good relationship with Marcia and Delroy, however I always missed being with my family and wished to be with them. When I returned to Marcia's home having left I decided I needed to be with my mother.
"I was worried if I travelled alone I could be attacked so I took a knife from the kitchen for my own protection. I remember starting the engine, putting the gear into reverse. I have never driven a car before and so struggled to do so. I remember seeing Marcia rush out then Delroy after. Delroy was on my right side shouting and hitting the car window.
"I was in a state of panic, I didn't know Marcia was behind the car. I never intended to hit her or cause her any harm. I'm very sorry for what has happened." The court heard that day Marcia had taken him to the hairdressers earlier that day and he had “kicked off” because he had not had the hairstyle he wanted with a line cut into his eyebrow.
But Mrs Justice May noted that there is no evidence to suggest the defendant had ‘any intention’ to harm Marcia, or any ‘awareness of the risk of harm’ to her. She said this is why a plea of causing death by dangerous driving was accepted by prosecutors and she said she believed the boy when he said he was remorseful.
Paying tribute to her mum, Gemma said her mum had a “fierce ambition to love, comfort and bring joy to anyone and everyone she met. She wanted to pull the world into a hug, lend a hand and raise the spirits of anyone facing adversity…”
She added: “I have MS and said the “additional stress” had “impacted my ability to walk. I get frequent flashbacks to the sight of my mum pinned under the car, of the fire service dragging her body from under the car, of seeing her misshapen, unfamiliar and badly damaged body lying in the coroner’s office as I am asked to identify her.”
Marcia’s son Shaun Grant told of his horror of his dad having to witness the whole ordeal of “1500 kg of weight rolling over the love of his life at speed. Crushing her instantly. With complete disregard for my dad’s pleas the perpetrator placed the car into reverse and put his foot on the gas and in these moments he shattered our family to pieces.”
“I have been existing in a complete fog constantly asking the question as to how someone could have such disregard for human life… I have had my best friend ripped away from me with no chance to say goodbye, with no chance to tell her how amazing she was as a mum, wife and foster carer."
He said his dad had been left with a “hole in his heart that will never heal. When he steps out onto his driveway and gets in his car, never will there be a moment where he doesn’t relive the tragic events that’ve been inflicted on us by this remorseless individual.” He added: "Make no mistake, my mum was a credit to the system, and it is not only us who will suffer from her loss.”
The Judge allowed the boy to remain sitting as he was sentenced and told him: “Marcia Grant’s family are heartbroken and angry of course they are, that’s natural…no sentence that I gave you can give her back or lessen their sadness. You wanted to see your mum…you were worried about her….You made a very bad choice… The prosecution accepted that you did not mean to harm Marcia Grant when you drove that car… It is not murder. It is a very bad accident.