Hit-and-run driver who killed pedestrian jailed

A driver who struck a pedestrian then called his partner "screaming" that he had "hit or killed somebody" has been jailed.

Sam Pope died after being hit by Marcin Pilarski's car while walking along Oilmills Road in Ramsey Mereside, Cambridgeshire, just before 23:00 BST on 11 May 2024.

Cambridgeshire Police said Pilarski left the scene, but officers were called soon after by his partner, who told them he had returned home in her Vauxhall Astra with a smashed windscreen and headlamp, and blood on the front.

Pilarski, 36, of Sorrell Avenue, Whittlesey, was jailed for one year and three months by Cambridge Crown Court, after admitting causing death by driving a car without a licence or insurance.

At the hearing last week, he was also disqualified from driving for four years and six months.

Cambridgeshire Police said the crash was reported by another driver at 23:02, after finding 28-year-old Pope, of Lincoln Road in Peterborough, laying in the road. He was declared dead at the scene.

Pilarski's partner then called police at 23:40.

The force said the woman said in a statement he had telephoned her shortly after the crash to say he had "hit or killed somebody" who had been in the road, but she had to end the call due to him screaming.

She said when he returned home, she told him they needed to call the police, and he answered: "I know."

Under interview, the force said Pilarski answered "no comment" to most questions, but he admitted the offence in court.

In a victim impact statement, Pope's family, who described him as "a rough diamond with a heart made of gold", said they had been left feeling angry that Pilarski did not seem remorseful and had issued no apology.

The statement added: "We hope the memory of the night keeps him up at night like it does us. I don't really know how as a family we will ever come to terms with this."

Det Insp Craig Wheeler, who investigated the case, said Pope "needlessly lost his life at such a young age".

"No sentence will ever ease the pain of their [family's] loss, but I hope the case acts as a stark reminder against getting behind the wheel while uninsured or without a licence. Just one journey could end in tragedy," he added.

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