Woman nearly killed in hit-and-run says life was ‘ruined’ – as worst areas for uninsured drivers are revealed
A woman who was nearly killed in a hit-and-run says her life was “ruined” and she wants the driver to get their “just deserts” – as police launch a national crackdown on dangerous uninsured motorists.
Sharon Cochrane spent four months in hospital after suffering a broken leg and arm, eight broken ribs, two broken collarbones and a fractured neck, as well as a bleed on the brain and a collapsed lung.
The 64-year-old Sainsbury’s employee was walking to work in East Ham in London when a car, being driven on the wrong side of the road, crashed into her on the pavement.
Mrs Cochrane told Sky News she was sent “flying into the road” during the incident in July 2018, while the suspected uninsured driver failed to stop and has never been caught.
Mrs Cochrane suffered a broken leg and arm, eight broken ribs and two broken collarbones. Pic: Sharon Cochrane
It comes as UK police forces enforce a week-long operation called Op Drive Insured, which aims to increase the number of uninsured vehicles seized across the country.
Extra attention will be given to the worst-affected parts of the UK, with Birmingham having the highest levels of uninsured driving, according to Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).
The not-for-profit organisation, which compensates victims of collisions involving hit-and-run drivers and uninsured vehicles, said it received more than 26,000 claims in 2021.
Hunt for hit-and-run driver
Mrs Cochrane said she had to learn to walk again and was bedridden at home for 11 months after being discharged from hospital.
She can no longer drive, she continues to suffer swelling on her legs, and she is unable to bend one of her arms.
Sharon Cochrane says her life is still affected by the hit-and-run more than four years later
“Four months in hospital, 11 months to walk again – your life is ruined,” Mrs Cochrane told Sky News.
“I can’t drive any more because of the pins I’ve got everywhere. All the swelling I’ve still got. There’s so much I can’t do.
“Without catching anyone, you don’t seem to have any closure… you can’t see justice served.
“If they had caught him, and he had been drunk or had been on drugs, he would have got his comeuppance.
“He might still have, who knows? Something might have happened – his car might have blown up, his house might have caught fire.
“We wish all we can on him and hope he gets his just deserts.”
‘My life was ruined’
Mrs Cochrane said she has no memory of being hit by the car and woke up in intensive care at the Royal Free Hospital in London, surrounded by her family.
Police appealed for information after the hit-and-run but no one has been caught. Pic: Sharon Cochrane
“Doctors said to me, they’ve had people with a lot less injuries not make it,” she added.
“Normally I’m a strong person but when I saw what I couldn’t do for 11 months – and in my head thinking, this is going to be forever, not walking, stuck in a bed… the thought of it was making me sick.”
In a message to the driver, Mrs Cochrane said: “My life, my husband’s life, everything was ruined because of this.
“We can all mistakes – god, I’ve made hundreds in my life – but I personally would have at least stopped and called an ambulance.”
Worst areas for uninsured drivers revealed
Ranked by postal areas, Birmingham has the five locations with the highest levels of uninsured driving, based on MIB claims, followed by Purfleet in Essex, Smethwick in the West Midlands and the Manchester areas of Cheetham Hill, Crumpsall and Strangeways.
Motorcyclist Graham Hills said he was left in “excruciating” pain and expected to die after he was hit by an uninsured car while he was riding at 60mph.
Graham Hills spent 102 days in hospital after being hit by an uninsured car. Pic: Graham Hills
The 64-year-old spent 102 days in hospital after needing emergency operations to repair a punctured lung, cut spleen, open pelvis, torn rectum, four major ligaments in his knee, a broken ankle and several broken ribs.
The collision happened on the A262 in Kent in July 2018 after an elderly driver of an uninsured car suddenly turned into the opposite lane, causing Mr Hills to hit the vehicle head-on.
“I had a momentary flash in my mind – that’s it, I was instantly convinced I was going to die,” he told Sky News.
“I remember being on my back some way beyond the car, having hit it and flown over the top of it and just being very surprised I was still alive and struggling to breathe, with very severe pelvic pain.
“You probably couldn’t get much more pain and still be alive.”
Mr Hills said he ‘expected to die’ when he was struck by the vehicle
Careless driving prosecution
Mr Hills was flown by air ambulance to King’s College Hospital in London, where he had two spells in intensive care after contracting gangrene and sepsis.
He said the driver of the uninsured vehicle was prosecuted for careless driving and driving without insurance and received eight points on his licence and was fined £400.
“That doesn’t feel quite enough,” Mr Hills added.
He said the MIB helped him secure compensation of about £230,000 following the crash.
Mr Hills needed around 50 further hospital visits after being discharged and wore a knee brace for 10 months as he had to learn to walk again.
He can now drive again and said doctors are “amazed” at his recovery.
Mr Hills said doctors have been ‘amazed’ at his recovery
“With an open book pelvic fracture, most people die at the scene,” he said. “If they get to hospital alive, most people die within a day.
“They view me as almost a bit of a miracle really because I’m pretty normal in a lot of ways.
“If you were to look at me… you wouldn’t know I had a near-death crash.”
‘Uninsured drivers cause higher rate of collisions’
Motorists have been urged to make sure their insurance is valid to avoid being caught up in Op Drive Insured.
Paul Farley, law enforcement manager at MIB, said: “Put simply, uninsured drivers are dangerous. They cause a much higher rate of collisions, and they’re often linked to wider road crime, including hit-and-run crashes.
“It’s sadly become an all-too-common experience to hear on the news that yet another person’s life has been cut short after being hit by an illegal motorist.
“We’re working day and night with our police partners to put an end to this.
“We hope Op Drive Insured sends a clear message that no one is above the law and those who choose to drive without insurance will not get away with it.”
UK
Rail worker who protected passengers during mass stabbing on Huntingdon train discharged from hospital
The train crew member who was seriously injured while trying to protect passengers during a mass stabbing has been discharged from hospital.
Samir Zitouni, 48, known as Sam, was working on board the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train from Doncaster to London when the attack began in Cambridgeshire on Saturday 1 November.
LNER said Mr Zitouni, who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years, was credited with helping to save multiple lives.
Mr Zitouni had been in a critical condition, having suffered multiple injuries in the incident, but was discharged on Saturday.
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Mahmood praises rail worker
His family said: “We are so grateful for the outpouring of support from the public, and very touched by all the kind words about Sam’s brave actions on the night of the attack.
“While we are really happy to have him home, he still has a significant recovery ahead and we would now like to be left in privacy to care for him as a family.”
Earlier this month, LNER said he has been a “valued member” of staff for over 20 years, working on board as a customer experience host.
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Train mass stabbing: A timeline of events
David Horne, managing director at LNER, said: “In a moment of crisis, Sam did not hesitate as he stepped forward to protect those around him.
“His actions were incredibly brave, and we are so proud of him, and of all our colleagues who acted with such courage that evening. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Sam and his family. We will continue to support them and wish him a full and speedy recovery.”
The attack is understood to have started shortly after the train left Peterborough, with passengers pulling the emergency alarms on the LNER service.
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Police believe train attacker filmed waving knife
Train driver Andrew Johnson, who served in the Royal Navy for 17 years, contacted a signaller and requested an unscheduled stop at Huntingdon station.
11 people were treated in hospital after the mass stabbing – nine were initially reported as having life-threatening injuries.
Anthony Williams, 32, was remanded into custody at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on November 3, charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over the incident.
He will appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 1 December.
Donald Trump has said he will sue the BBC for between $1bn and $5bn over the editing of his speech on Panorama.
The US president confirmed he would be taking legal action against the broadcaster while on Air Force One overnight on Saturday.
“We’ll sue them. We’ll sue them for anywhere between a billion (£792m) and five billion dollars (£3.79bn), probably sometime next week,” he told reporters.
“We have to do it, they’ve even admitted that they cheated. Not that they couldn’t have not done that. They cheated. They changed the words coming out of my mouth.”
Mr Trump then told reporters he would discuss the matter with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the weekend, and claimed “the people of the UK are very angry about what happened… because it shows the BBC is fake news”.
The Daily Telegraph reported earlier this month that an internal memo raised concerns about the BBC’s editing of a speech made by Mr Trump on 6 January 2021, just before a mob rioted at the US Capitol building, on its flagship late-night news programme.
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BBC crisis: How did it happen?
The concerns regard clips spliced together from sections of the president’s speech to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell” in the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.
Following a backlash, both BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness resigned from their roles.
‘No basis for defamation claim’
On Thursday, the broadcaster officially apologised to the president and added that it was an “error of judgement” and the programme will “not be broadcast again in this form on any BBC platforms”.
A spokesperson said that “the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited,” but they also added that “we strongly disagree there is a basis for a defamation claim”.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump’s lawyers threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn unless it apologised, retracted the clip, and compensated him.
The US president said he would sue the broadcaster for between $1bn and $5bn. File pic: PA
Legal challenges
But legal experts have said that Mr Trump would face challenges taking the case to court in the UK or the US.
The deadline to bring the case to UK courts, where defamation damages rarely exceed £100,000 ($132,000), has already expired because the documentary aired in October 2024, which is more than one year.
Also because the documentary was not shown in the US, it would be hard to show that Americans thought less of the president because of a programme they could not watch.
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Key findings in 20,000 pages of documents in the Epstein files
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Newsnight allegations
The BBC has said it was looking into fresh allegations, published in The Telegraph, that its Newsnight show also selectively edited footage of the same speech in a report broadcast in June 2022.
A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards. This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it.”
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A man has been given a 13-month prison sentence for stealing Banksy’s famous Girl With Balloon print from a London gallery.
Larry Fraser, 49, of Beckton, east London, was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to one count of non-residential burglary at Kingston Crown Court on 9 October.
The print, one of the street artist‘s most famous, was stolen from a gallery in New Cavendish Street in London at around 11pm on 8 September last year.
The recovered artwork back in the gallery. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Fraser used a hammer to smash his way through a glass entrance door at the Grove Gallery before stealing the artwork, which was valued at £270,000.
He concealed his identity with a mask, hooded jacket and gloves, but the Metropolitan Police’s Flying Squad was able to identify him and track him to a location streets away.
He was also caught on CCTV loading the artwork into a van before fleeing the scene.
A second man, 54-year-old James Love, was accused of being the getaway driver in the burglary, but cleared of stealing the print.
Larry Fraser. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Damage to the Grove Gallery after the theft. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Fraser was arrested at his home address on 10 September, within 48 hours of the burglary, and charged the next day.
Officers were able to recover the artwork after executing a warrant on the Isle of Dogs. It has now been returned to the gallery.
Fraser pleaded to the court that he was struggling with a historic drug debt and agreed to steal the work “under a degree of pressure and fear”.
He said he did not know what he would be stealing, nor its value, until the day of the offence.
Fraser was caught on CCTV taking the artwork away from the gallery. Pic: Metropolitan Police
Jeffrey Israel, defending, said Fraser lived with his mother as her principal carer, and had only managed to “break his cycle of drug addiction” after his last prison sentence.
He added that it “would take a bold advocate” to suggest that the value of the print had increased by the burglary, but insisted “that is probably the reality”.
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Banksy artwork ‘worth millions’ scrubbed off wall outside court
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Judge Anne Brown was unmoved, however, and said the offence was “simply too serious” for a suspended sentence.
“This is a brazen and serious non-domestic burglary,” she said.
“Whilst you did not know the precise value of the print, you obviously understood it to be very valuable.”
She added: “Whilst I am sure there was a high degree of planning, this was not your plan.”
However, Fraser may be eligible for immediate release due to time spent on electronic curfew.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Mather, who led the Met’s investigation, said: “Banksy’s Girl With Balloon is known across the world – and we reacted immediately to not just bring Fraser to justice but also reunite the artwork with the gallery.
“The speed at which this took place is a testament to the tireless work of the flying squad officers – in total it took just four days for normality to be restored.”
The 2004 artwork was part of a £1.5m collection of 13 Banksy pieces at the gallery.
Gallery manager, Lindor Mehmetaj, said it was “remarkable” for the piece to have been recovered after the theft.
The 29-year-old said: “I was completely, completely shocked, but in a very, very positive way when the Flying Squad showed me the actual artwork.
“It’s very hard to put into words, the weight that comes off your shoulders.”
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