Hit-and-run driver who killed cyclist and briefly returned to scene before fleeing jailed for 10 years

A motorist who struck and killed a cyclist, returning briefly to the scene before fleeing and hitting another cyclist minutes later, has been sentenced to ten years in prison and banned from driving for ten years.

Agnieszka Pocztowska, 41, was riding her bike on Hungerford Road in Crewe at 6.55am on 14 September 2020 when she was hit head-on by 23-year-old Nathan Schultz, who was driving a Ford Focus on the wrong side of the road.

Schultz, driving without insurance or a licence, was on his way home from a party when he struck the mother-of-three, throwing her over the roof of the vehicle. Carrying on with a shattered windscreen, the motorist briefly returned to the scene to look at the victim before speeding off in the direction of the M6 motorway.

Ms Pocztowska was pronounced dead shortly after the collision.

On a nearby road in Haslington, Schultz hit another cyclist before once again fleeing, leaving a 53-year-old man with minor injuries.

He then went on to swap seats with his passenger, 21-year-old Kasey Wrench, before dumping the car, leaving some clothing in a nearby woodland, and taking a taxi to his mother’s house in Middleport.

A manhunt was launched to trace those involved, and the Ford Focus was found abandoned in Trent Vale following enquiries. As well as the shattered front windscreen, the car was reported to have had three defective tyres. Schultz was identified as a suspect almost immediately and arrested within two hours.

Wrench was also quickly identified as the passenger, and arrested in connection with the incident. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a licence, and driving without insurance, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 24 months, plus 200 hours unpaid work, £300 costs, a £136 victim surcharge, and a three-year driving disqualification.

> Hit-and-run driver who killed cyclist and hit another minutes later convicted of causing death by dangerous driving

At the time of Wrench’s sentencing in December 2021, Crewe Nub News reported from the trial that the 21-year-old was “half asleep” after a drink and drugs binge, and was a passenger in the Ford Focus until it entered Trent Vale, when he swapped seats with Schultz. Wrench was seen driving the vehicle for 400 metres, with the judge saying that he “drove the car in a sense of panic because of what the vehicle had been involved in”.

While Wrench admitted his involvement straight away following his arrest, Schultz initially refused to answer any questions and pretended to be asleep when he was asked to provide a breath sample (though police officers did not report him being intoxicated at the time of his arrest, two hours after the fatal collision).

Eventually Schultz pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, two counts of failing to stop following a collision, and two counts of failing to report a collision.

He also admitted causing the death of Ms Pocztowska whilst unlicensed and uninsured.

On Friday, following a four-day trial at Chester Crown Court, Schultz was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for ten years and ordered to take an extended retest.

Speaking at the sentencing, judge Michael Leeming told Schultz: “There was no obvious reason for you to be on the wrong side of the road. The case was put on the basis you were intoxicated at the time. She was there to be seen and should have been seen by any careful and competent driver.

“You continued along the road before turning around and slowing where you could see the cyclist. Instead of stopping at the scene you drove off.

“I am sure that the manner of your driving was affected by the consumption of alcohol.

“There was a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road – driving on the wrong side of the road for no apparent reason, no driving licence, no insurance, having consumed alcohol, a complete disregard of the danger driving in that way would cause to others.”