Drunk Land Rover driver who killed 10-year-old girl when he mounted pavement as she walked to chip shop is jailed for nine years

• Mark Fensome, 43, killed Lily Morris, 10 after mounting the kerb while drunk
• He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in Oldham

A drink-fuelled driver mowed down a 10-year-old girl as she was walking to a fish and chip shop with her friend.

Mark Fensome, 43, was out drinking with work colleagues shortly before his Land Rover ploughed into Lily Morris, 10, on Coleridge Road, Oldham, just days before Christmas. 

The schoolgirl died in hospital after suffering a traumatic brain injury.

Her 12-year-old friend was also severely injured after being struck by the car when it mounted the kerb on the wrong side of the road. After crashing into the two girls, Fensome drove away from the scene.

He was arrested at his home nearby minutes later and was said to be ‘clearly intoxicated’ and unsteady on his feet.

Lily Morris, 10 (pictured) died while walking to a chip shop with her friend after drunk driver Mark Fensome crashed his Land Rover into them

Fensome pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for nine years on Friday at Minshull Crown Court

Fensome was jailed at Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday for nine years, having previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

David Lees, prosecuting, told the court that on December 18, 2021 Fensome had been drinking vodka with colleagues to celebrate finishing work for Christmas. 

By the time he got into his Land Rover at 5pm he was one-and-a-half times over the legal drink drive limit.

Dash cam footage played to the court showed Fensome driving ‘aggressively and erratically’ along Ripponden Road just moments before the crash. His vehicle was seen at one point driving right behind another car before overtaking it.

Fensome then broke heavily before turning into Coleridge Road – a residential street with speed bumps and a 20mph speed limit – where he continued to drive dangerously, while at the same time Lily and her friend were walking along the pavement on their way to a chippy near her home.

While attempting to negotiate a left-hand bend at speed, the Land Rover crossed onto the wrong side of the road and mounted the kerb.

Both girls were hit by the vehicle, which then smashed into a lamppost with such force it ripped it out of the ground. Lily was thrown onto the bonnet of the car and struck the windscreen before landing on a grass verge.

Fensome got out of the car and looked around before driving away from the scene with the lamp post underneath his car.

Members of the public rushed to help the girls and performed first aid on Lily. She was taken to hospital but died after suffering head, neck and chest injuries.

The girl’s friend also suffered serious head injuries after being knocked to the ground. She spent three days in hospital and continues to be impacted by her injuries.

After arriving at his home nearby, Fensome began assessing the damage to his car. He was confronted by a witness who told him he had ‘killed a child’ and punched him.

A ‘clearly intoxicated’ Fensome was arrested minutes later and was said to have been unsteady on his feet and smelling of alcohol.

He told police he did not realise that he had hit anyone. The court heard that Fensome was travelling at ‘high speed’ at the time of the crash and had traces of cannabis and amphetamine in his blood.

The Land Rover’s two front tyres were below the legal minimum tread depth, although there was no evidence that the defects had contributed towards the collision.

Fensome, of Diggle Street, Shaw, has 10 previous convictions for 16 offences, including several for driving.

Lily (pictured) died in hospital after suffering a traumatic brain injury from the incident, which happen just days before Christmas

Ian Bridge, mitigating, told the court that Fensome had gone through a ‘difficult young life’ but had been working consistently for more than ten years while staying out of trouble. He said the defendant was ‘full of remorse’ for what had happened.

‘As far as he is concerned, you can throw the key away,’ Mr Bridge said. ‘He can’t live with himself.’

Mr Bridge said Fensome had ‘contemplated suicide’ and found it ‘extremely difficult to live with what he has done’.

He added: ‘His position is that he will go to prison for a long, long time and, in his current state of mind, he doesn’t think he will emerge. He is destroyed by what he has done. He does not understand it.’

Judge Tina Landale jailed Fensome for nine years and told him he had ‘deprived’ Lily and her family ‘of her life and her future’.

‘You were severely impaired by the alcohol,’ she added. ‘If you had not been you would have realised you had hit the children.’

Fensome was also disqualified from driving for 12 years and six months and ordered to take an extended retest before returning to the road.

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