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Woman and child in hit-and-run horror

Nicole Kenny
5/ 9/2008

A GRANDMA pushing her young grand-daughter in a pram in Openshaw was mown down by a hit and run driver.

The 57-year-old woman, known locally as Barbara, was crossing at the junction of Ogden Lane and Lees Street at around 11.30am on Sunday when a silver BMW stopped at the pelican crossing.

While the grandmother and child were crossing, the car reversed into them, and then drove off towards Ashton Old Road.

The woman suffered serious head injuries and is in a critical but stable condition in hospital but luckily her four-year-old grand-daughter was left uninjured.

Anthony Skelton, 44, who was visiting his girlfriend on Lees Street at the time was one of the first people on the scene.

Mr Skelton said: "I was in the back garden fixing a bike when I heard a woman screaming.

"I ran out and saw the lady on the road just screaming and very distressed.

"Another woman picked up the kid and took her inside, she was crying but she seemed ok.

"The lady on the floor was just mumbling and seemed to be worried about the kid, she wasn't making much sense.

"I put a towel on her head to try and put pressure on the bleeding.

"A few ambulances turned up because I think a few people rang for one. I just tried to keep her still.

"It's really bad what happened and she looked in a bad way to be honest. I hope she will be ok."

Mrs Murphy, who lives on Ogden Lane, said that this is not the first accident to happen here.

She said: "There are always accidents on this corner and they have put the crossing in totally the wrong place.

"It will probably take something serious to happen like this for anyone to do anything about it.

"I just heard a massive thud so I walked out the house to see.

"I was too scared to go over and there was already a few people helping.

"I didn't actually see the accident, but from what I saw she looked like she was in a pretty bad way.

"It took her a good few minutes to come round and then she was just screaming, it was awful."

The silver BMW had black tinted windows and the registration included the letters MT03 or MT08.

Pc Luke Pastore, of the Road Policing Unit at Whitefield, said: "I would not want to speculate about why this driver failed to stop having knocked a woman who was pushing a pram to the ground, but the facts speak for themselves.

"It is incredibly lucky the young girl did not suffer serious injuries as we could easily have been dealing with a tragedy.

"It is vital we trace the driver of this car and speak to them as a matter of urgency. I would appeal to anyone who has information, or who knows the whereabouts of this car, to call us immediately."

Anyone with information avout the incident at around 11.30am on Sunday morning should call the Area Two Road Policing Unit on 0161 856 3572.