Mum pushes daughter to safety as car crashes into family in Newmarket hit and run

She said the crash ‘ruined her life as she knew it’

A mum pushed her daughter to safety after a car crashed into her family before the driver fled the scene. The woman was walking with her young daughter, followed by her partner walking their puppy just behind in Brinkley Road, Burrough Green, near Newmarket on the evening of July 9, 2024.

When she noticed the car being driven straight at them, the mum managed to push her daughter out of the way, but she was hit by the car alongside her partner and their puppy.

Lydia White, 43, was driving on the road following a person she knew on a motorbike in front. She mounted the footpath and crashed into the family just before 10pm.

After the crash she didn’t stop and drove off, leaving the mum and her partner with serious injuries. The man was left with a fractured hip and the woman suffered a fractured arm, severe bruising and soft tissue damage, requiring skin grafts and prolonged rehabilitation.

Both were taken to hospital and the puppy was taken to the vets by an officer. The dog suffered a broken pelvis and needed thousands of pounds of specialist treatment.

The mum said the crash had “ruined her life as she knew it” and has led to her family being around £25,000 in debt due to not being able to work. She said she is now fearful to go out, feels constantly vulnerable and like a burden on her own family. She described the crash and its consequences as a never-ending nightmare.

After the crash, two people identified the driver following a police appeal for witnesses. Police were able to identify her as the suspected driver of the white Hyundai i20.

A Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) was sent to White but she denied being the driver, failed to identify who was and then ignored the second notice.

However, she was caught on CCTV getting into the car about a mile before the scene of the crash and again following the motorbike just before and after the crash. Her car has never been found, but the insurance was renewed a few months later with White as the only registered driver.

White, of Grange Road, Chalfont St. Peter, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, gave no comment to all questions asked of her in three different police interviews. She later pleaded guilty to two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

She was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court today (September 1) where she was handed two years and seven months in prison, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to complete 220 hours of unpaid work, a 25-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and has also been disqualified from driving for four years.

Sergeant Rochelle Eves, who investigated, said: “This was a horrific collision involving a young family who were simply out for an evening walk with their puppy.

“The consequences of White’s actions and how this has affected them cannot be underestimated. They were left with serious, but thankfully not life-threatening injuries.

“Incredibly bravely, the woman managed to keep her daughter safe by pushing her out the way of the car coming towards them – if she had not done so, the situation could have been so much worse.

“White’s behaviour was nothing less than shocking by fleeing the scene after causing such devastation, denying any involvement and lying to police. I hope this case shows the lengths we will go to identify drivers who flee the scene of collisions and bring them before the courts.”