A mother finds her son dead in a ditch after being bombed by a banned hit-and-run driver

A mother found her son dead in a ditch after tracking his iPhone to the place where it appeared he had been hit by a prohibited driver.

Josh Ashworth, 22, was walking home along the A road when he was hit by a BMW driven by the disqualified Cole Tresider, a court heard.

Tresider, also 22, was jailed for seven years and two months on Friday by a judge who said his decision not to report the collision led to Mr Ashworth’s family finding his death.

Prosecutor Stephen Gosnell told how Mr Ashworth was in contact with his family on the evening of 22 April last year.

But when he failed to return home the next morning they began searching.

Mr Gosnell said the victim’s family and friends went to the site on the A52 after his iPhone showed it fixed at the scene near Somerby Hill, Lincolnshire.

Tragically, Gosnell said, his mother, Rachel, found him lying face down in a ditch just after 7 a.m.

In a poignant statement about victim impact, Mrs. Ashworth described the horror of going in search of her son and finding him dead.

Mrs. Ashworth turned to Tresidder and said, “Why would anyone leave such a fine human being on the side of the road?”

“I could have avoided finding my son with these horrific injuries,” she added.

Ms Ashworth said she was “haunted for days and days” as the family waited to find out if her son had survived for a while after the crash.

It was eventually proven, the court heard, that Mr. Ashworth died instantly of a skull fracture.

She described Josh as her “beautiful, complex, loving son,” adding, “My life as I knew it came to an end on Saturday, April 23.”

Lincoln Crown Court heard Tresider had fled the scene and failed to report the collision despite damage to the BMW he had left nearby.

Shortly before the collision, Gosnell said, another vehicle was seen whose occupants deemed him to be driving in excess of the speed limit.

Lincolnshire Police collision investigator PC Godfrey Barlow also concluded that Tresidder was driving at over 60mph when he hit Josh, who was traveling in the same direction towards Grantham.

The court heard Tresider turned himself in to a local police station the day after the collision, after reading reports of a road death on social media.

The defendant failed to provide a sample to officers and said he did not report the collision — which he said he believed was with a gazelle — because he was a prohibited driver and had no insurance.

The court heard Tressider’s ban relating to his conviction for driving without due care and attention last December, when he crashed into parked cars in Grantham.

On that occasion Tresidder was found in possession of 39 rolls of cocaine worth up to £1,560 and more than £1,000 in cash after trying to get away from a police car.

Tresider, of Springfield Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to causing death by reckless driving and failing to provide a sample.

He also pleaded guilty to driving a black BMW while disqualified and without insurance when the collision occurred on the A52 at Somerby Hill, Grantham, on 22 April last year.

He also admitted possession of cocaine and his supply intent on December 8, 2021.

Handing down the ruling, Judge Katharina Ciollin Knight said it was reasonable not to expect a pedestrian to be present along this stretch of road.

But Judge Sjollin Knight told Tresider that his actions had led to Mr. Ashworth’s family discovering his body themselves.

Judge Ceolin Knight added: ‘Using a tracking app on his phone, Josh was found by his mother in a ditch near the A52’.

In her words, “Her beautiful boy died on the side of the road.”

Treesider was jailed for 86 months and banned from driving for 77 months. He must also take an extended retake exam.