Killer hit and run driver dragged mum 190ft under wheels of speeding car and left her to die in road
Reece Roberts, 27, has been jailed for 10 years. Diane Jones, 59, died in the road after he went out 'to buy some milk' when banned from driving.
14:29, 14 May 2026Updated 14:30, 14 May 2026
Chief Constable of Northumbria Police on use of drones as first respondersA "cowardly" hit and run driver dragged a mother 190-ft (58m) down the road and left her dying in a collision at twice the speed limit.
Reece Roberts, 27, has been jailed for 10 years and eight months after Newcastle Crown Court[1] heard he was already banned from driving.
He killed Diane Jones, 59, as she crossed a road following a night out in Sunderland on Valentine's Day[2].
Courageously reading her victim impact statement in court[3], her daughter said her "little mam" was utterly beloved and she hoped Roberts would be "haunted" by her for the rest of his life.
Roberts, who had previously been jailed for seriously injuring someone in a hit and run crash, admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
He told police that he had gone out 'to buy some milk' when tragedy struck.
View 3 ImagesDiane Jones, 59, was dragged along the road after going out for a Valentine's Night drink(Image: Northumbria Police)
Ms Jones was crossing the A690 Durham Road in Sunderland at about 10.30pm on 14 February when Roberts, driving a black Volvo XC90 at "grossly excessive speed," hit her, prosecutor Omar Ahmad said.
Moments earlier several people had seen the car, which belonged to Roberts' partner, being driven erratically and dangerously.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that the car was speeding and undertaking a taxi on a roundabout.
Investigators estimated the car was travelling at 77mph on the 30mph road seconds before Ms Jones was struck.
She was dragged about 190 feet (58 metres) down the road and suffered "catastrophic" torso injuries, dying in the road despite the best efforts of passersby to help her, Mr Ahmad said.
Roberts did not brake or attempt to stop, driving away at speed, the court heard. He turned himself in to the police the following day and revealed where he had hidden the badly damaged car.
Drugs were found in his system.
View 3 ImagesReece Roberts has been jailed for 10 years(Image: Northumbria Police)
Prosecutors could not say whether he was under their influence at the time of the tragedy, although he admitted to police that he had not taken any substances since the collision.
Ms Jones' daughter, Hannah, told the court her mother was the "most kind-hearted and fun-loving woman", who was "small, funny and caring" with the "heart and fight of a lion". She was a real force to be reckoned with, a true diamond, and was missed every single day.
View 3 ImagesThe point of impact was captured by a dashcam(Image: North News & Pictures Ltd)
Addressing Roberts directly, Ms Jones' daughter asked how he could sleep at night or look his own mother in the face knowing he had left her lying in the road like a worthless piece of meat."
She said no sentence would satisfy the family and it filled her with rage to think Roberts would one day be free and able to spend time with his own family when he had stolen her mother's life. "How is it fair by the time you reach your 40s you get to live a normal life?" she said, adding: "I really hope she haunts you for the rest of your days." In 2020, Roberts of Tudor Grove, Sunderland was jailed for two and a half years and banned from driving for almost seven years, with a requirement to pass an extended test, after causing serious injury by dangerous driving in February 2019. The victim suffered "serious life-changing injuries" when Roberts struck them in an Audi A6 at between 40 and 50mph in a 30mph zone.
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He had been banned from driving at the time, was uninsured and made off at up to 70mph, the court heard.
Mr.
Ahmad said he also had a blackmail conviction after demanding ?15,000 from a person following a farm fire and escaping police by driving over a wall.
Judge Tim Gittins told Roberts: "You deliberately, arrogantly and selfishly ignored the disqualification and chose not just to drive but to do so in the most obviously dangerous fashion.
"You were a fatal accident waiting to happen and sadly so it proved to be.
"All for the reason of going out for some milk." He said Ms Jones was "wholly blameless" and "stood no chance," with Roberts ripping the heart and "diamond at the centre of the ring" out of her family.
She was a "caring, selfless and courageous lady" who was the "very opposite" of Roberts, who had fled in a "cowardly and callous" attempt to save himself, the judge said.
Ms Jones had still had "much life to enjoy and much love to give and receive," the judge said.
Roberts must serve a further five years on extended licence when freed.
He was also banned from driving for 20 years and one month.
Article continues belowPaying tribute to Diane's family, Inspector Steven Clare, of Northumbria Police[7]'s Serious Collision Unit, said: "It is hard to imagine the pain Diane's family has endured as they have tried to come to terms with what happened on February 14.
"They have shown incredible strength throughout and have remained focused on our efforts to bring Diane's killer to justice.
"No-one should have to go through what they have - and it is because of one person's reckless choices that this family has been left without their loved one."
References
- ^ Newcastle Crown Court (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Valentine's Day (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ court (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Mountaineer dies in partner's arms after being caught in avalanche on one of world's highest peaks (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Drugs mule chef jailed after smuggling ?200k cannabis into Edinburgh Airport (www.dailyrecord.co.uk)
- ^ Click here to activate (www.google.com)
- ^ Northumbria Police (www.mirror.co.uk)