Grandmother killed by cocaine-fuelled Audi driver as she walked home with her partner

A grandmother was killed in front of her partner after police chased a speeding Audi driver who ploughed into an Amazon delivery van. Kathleen Kirby, 66, was hit by the van as she walked along the pavement on a Monday afternoon with Cliff Bullen, her partner of 20 years.

Police had begun a high-speed pursuit of Chad Rimmington in Wigan. Driving an Audi TT, Rimmington, who has never passed a driving test, reached 78mph in a 30mph zone before crashing into the back of a van being driven by an innocent Amazon delivery driver.

The collision caused the Amazon driver to spin and mount the pavement, hitting Ms Kirby. She was killed, and Rimmington, 32, who was branded a ‘f****** scumbag’, admitted causing death by dangerous driving.

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Mr Bullen said he had been ‘inches away’ from being killed himself as they walked home together following a visit to a local nature reserve. “Sometimes, when I’m alone at night and reliving the nightmare over and over again, I wish I had been,” he said in a statement read on his behalf during an emotional hearing at Bolton Crown Court on Wednesday.

Rimmington will be sentenced tomorrow. He claimed he was planning on taking his own life that day, following the death of his partner.

Prosecuting, Colin Buckle told how Rimmington was driving on Bickershaw Lane at about 2.30pm on Monday, June 26, when he caught the attention of officers due to the speed he was travelling at. They ordered him to pull over but he failed to respond, and police began a pursuit.

He then drove on the wrong side of the carriageway and reached more than double the 30mph speed limit, at one stage reaching 78mph. Rimmington drove