A boy racer who killed a talented young footballer from Hazel Grove has been jailed for eight years
Samuel Harding aged 20 died after a crash at a car meet in Warrington in 2022.
Several hundred people were in attendance at the event, including Samuel who had visited with his two friends to look at other cars.
Mason Hodgson appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday 19 November where he was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
The 23-year-old of Glen Road, Morley, had earlier pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
As well as his custodial sentence, he was also banned from driving for 10 years and 4 months.
Hodgson also attended the event with his friends and shortly after 9.30pm he decided to participate in the car meet by attempting to drive as fast as possible along Kingsland Grange in his black Audi S3.
As he drove along the road, a 30mph zone, Hodgson reached speeds of more than 90mph, before colliding with Samuel who was in the process of crossing the road.
CCTV footage showed that due to the speed he was travelling, Samuel could not see Hodgson’s vehicle, when he stepped out into the road. Hodgson was unable to brake in time after seeing Samuel in the road.
The impact of the collision caused Samuel to be thrown more than 10ft into the air and as a result he sustained serious head injuries.
Police and paramedics were called to the scene and Samuel was rushed to hospital. Sadly, despite the best efforts of all those involved, Samuel sadly passed away a short time later.
An expert in CCTV analyst reviewed the footage and was able to prove that Hodgson had reached speeds of between 83 and 97mph while driving along Kingsland Grange. In the moments before the collision, he was travelling at between 82 and 88mph, and even after applying the brakes, he was still travelling between 58 and 60mph following.
Footage was also recovered from Hodgson’s mobile phone which showed him regularly travelling at excessive speed and taking part in competitive driving on public roads.
After a detailed investigation, Hodgson was subsequently charged with causing death by dangerous driving.
Following his sentencing Sergeant Simon Degg, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Cheshire Police, said:
“Samuel was a bright and talented young man who had his whole life ahead of him. He travelled to Warrington that night simply to look at other cars with his friends and have fun.
“Hodgson travelled to Warrington that night to show off and drive his car as quickly as possible. He showed little skill in driving fast down a straight road. In fact, he demonstrated the opposite.
“The footage we recovered from his phone showed that he had no regard for the law and regularly took part in street races, even filming himself as he drove at speeds in excess of 160mph on UK roads.
“In the moments prior to the collision, he reached horrific speeds of more than 90mph, in an area governed by a 30mph speed limit, and even after he had spotted Samuel in the road, he had no way of stopping due to the excessive speed at which he was travelling.
“As a result of his selfish, unnecessary, and dangerous actions, Samuel never got to return home that night and the lives of his family have been torn apart.
“While we will never be able to bring Samuel back, I hope that the sentence handed to Hodgson will provide his family some closure and allow them to start to rebuild their lives.
“I also hope that the devastating consequences of this case will act as a warning to others who are contemplating on taking part in these events.”
