Donna Grant was driving under the influence of cannabis when she struck a man in the dark on Thursday, December 17, 2020, around 8.40 p.m., and then fled the scene.
Her car was travelling at 45 mph at the time of impact in Crabble Hill, which has a speed limit of 30 mph. Grant, 52, slowed but did not stop as she drove to her home on Fairway Avenue in Folkestone.
Shortly after the collision, Kent Police were called to a report of a man’s body in a skip near a low wall. He was identified as a courier who had collected goods from a street business shortly before his body was discovered. His van was still parked on the side of the road. The impact of the collision is thought to have propelled him into the skip, and paramedics pronounced the man in his 50s dead at the scene.
Officers from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit investigated the scene and discovered a damaged car wing mirror. Officers studied local traffic cameras to try to identify the driver after the serial number revealed the car was a Ford Focus. They also compared delivery van footage to see if the victim’s vehicle and the offending vehicle had passed by the same cameras at the same time.
They discovered video of a Ford Focus with damage to the front end. The following day, they saw the same car on the back of a recovery truck in another traffic camera image. On Friday, December 18, officers identified the driver of that specific vehicle and seized the vehicle directly from the recovery yard. The car had a broken light and a cracked windscreen, and it smelled strongly of cannabis.
Officers apprehended Grant at her workplace at 2 p.m. that day.
Grant admitted to the accident and stated that she called her insurance company as soon as she arrived home. She admitted she should have called the cops, but it was late at night and she thought she had hit an animal or a bollard. She claimed she came to a halt but couldn’t see, so she left the scene. Her phone was confiscated, and she was arrested and tested for alcohol and drugs.
Despite her claim that she had stopped, investigators were able to determine that she had slowed down after the collision but had not stopped and had searched the internet the following morning for ‘hit and run’ and ‘body found in Dover’ to see if anything had been reported. Cannabis traces were also discovered in her bloodstream.
Grant was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, which she admitted was due to her excessive speed, but she denied having anything to do with drugs and insisted she had stopped at the scene. This was discussed in court, where the judge disagreed with Grant, saying that the consumption of cannabis and failure to stop at the scene would be considered when sentencing her.
Grant was sentenced to four years in prison on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, at Canterbury Crown Court. She has also been disqualified from driving and will have to pass an extended test before getting behind the wheel again.
‘The speed at which Grant was travelling most certainly meant that she would not have been able to avoid this collision,’ said investigating officer Detective Constable Claire Fullagar.
‘We believe Grant was aware she had struck someone and was so concerned about it that she fled the scene and searched the internet to see if anything had been reported.’ We don’t know if the victim would have survived the impact, but he might have had a better chance if Grant had called 911 right away and accepted responsibility for her actions.
‘Fortunately, the evidence led us straight to the truth, and she will now serve a prison sentence for the suffering she has caused.’ I hope this teaches her and others a lesson. A man tragically lost his life, and his family and friends will now bear the pain for the rest of their lives.
