A learner driver who killed a young woman in a hit-and-run while ‘showing off’ before swapping seats with her boyfriend so he could drive the car away has been jailed.
Kennedy Lucas, 24, also lied to police and hid her car keys in a bid to cover her tracks after fatally injuring 20-year-old Krystal Hamilton on February 6 this year.
Tragic Krystal was on a short walk back from a Co-Op store and was less than 50 metres from home when she was mowed down in Grange Park, Northampton.
But Lucas and her partner Vinny Guess, 28, tried to cover up their actions instead of calling for help while Krystal lay badly injured in the road.
The ‘devious couple’ swapped seats so Guess could drive off while Lucas stayed behind and lied to residents, telling them there had been an accident she wasn’t involved in.
A court heard Lucas had convinced her boyfriend to let her have a go driving his car so she could ‘show off’ what she had learned in just five unofficial lessons with family.
Kennedy Lucas, 24, has been jailed after she lost control of her boyfriend’s car and crashed into 20-year-old Krystal Hamilton (pictured) causing a fatal head injury in Northampton
She later told police in interview: ‘I just wanted to have a little play around. But playing around has consequences.’
Lucas lost control of the Volkswagen Passat just as Krystal was walking home after going to the shops at around 11pm.
When she tried to brake, she pressed down on the accelerator and sped up before colliding with Krystal, who fell to the pavement and suffered a fatal head injury.
Unable to stop, Lucas also careered across a grass verge in a complete circle and crashed into a wall, causing an estimated £11,000 of damage.
Lucas, of Luton, admitted causing death by careless driving and perverting the cause of justice and was jailed for 30 months on Friday.
She was also disqualified from driving for 18 months at Northampton Crown Court.
Guess, of Houghton Regis, Beds., was jailed for 20 months after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Sentencing, Judge Rupert Mayo said: ‘It is as serious as it gets. It involves staying by the person fighting for her life and doing nothing. It was devious.
Krystal’s mother Anne-Marie Hamilton told the court her daughter was a fighter
‘Rather than attending the scene and making sure that person in the road had emergency assistance and accepting the blame, she stayed at the scene and acted what was described as rather coolly.
‘She strongly implied she wasn’t responsible and it was a hit and run driver.
‘Nothing I say in the sentencing I pass can bring Krystal back.
‘Her family rather understandably are devastated and feel Krystal has been stolen from them.
‘They are perfectly entitled to those views. The scars will take a lifetime to heal. Her life was without value – it was priceless.
‘The only reason that I can define for [Lucas] driving the car is that she wanted to show off to her partner.’
CCTV played in court showed how the couple were trying to cover their tracks within seconds of the crash.
Less than 10 seconds after the impact, Guess climbed into the Passat’s driving seat, left Lucas at the scene, and drove away.
Lucas then stood by and tried to flag down a car and did not check on Krystal.
The first person to stop was a woman who knew Krystal. Lucas told her there had been ‘a hit and run’.
When concerned neighbours arrived to help, she told them she would be ‘back in two minutes’ and left. She never returned.
Within two hours, police attended Lucas and Guess’ home to ask about the damaged Passat out front.
As the officer approached the door, the court heard how Lucas hid her car keys.
She then told the officer she didn’t know anything about the car or the incident, and that ‘people park there all the time’.
During this time, Krystal had been rushed to University Hospital Coventry with severe injuries.
The next day Lucas and Guess saw a Facebook post asking about a ‘girl at the scene who saw everything and left’ and knew people were ‘looking for them’.
They turned themselves in that morning 12 hours after the crash while Krystal died ten days later in hospital with her mother beside her.
Kennedy Lucas was jailed for 30 months at Northampton Crown Court (pictured)
Detective Constable Lauren El Sharkawi, of Northamptonshire Police, said after the case: ‘What happened on the night of February 6, 2020, has shattered the Hamilton family beyond words.
‘Krystal was such a well-loved young woman with a bright future and her whole life ahead of her.
‘The events that took place on that night were utterly dreadful and I hope it is something that Lucas and Guess will reflect on and regret profoundly.
‘No sentence is this world will make up for the loss of Krystal.
‘This has been a complex and upsetting case to investigate and my thoughts will remain with the Hamilton family for a very long time to come.’