Hit-and-run driver killed young mum as she enjoyed night out with friends - then went home and drank beer

The mother of a young woman who was killed in a hit-and-run crash branded the speeding driver responsible as “disgusting” after he was convicted of causing death by careless driving.

Rhiannon Hall, 21, was crossing the road during a rare night out with friends when she was hit and killed by a car driven by 29-year-old Alex Barnett.

The motorist, who had spent the evening in the pub, did not stop after the crash and instead went home to continue drinking before going to bed.

Ms Hall’s mother Carly said she saw no remorse or contrition from Barnett during his trial at Kingston crown court which concluded in a guilty verdict.

“I found the way he presented himself had no regard to our feelings”, she told the Evening Standard.

“There has been no apology – there was no emotion until he got on the stand and he was questioned, which is when the tears came.”

She called Barnett “absolutely disgusting” for driving off after the crash, and was similar scathing about the reaction of his family to the incident.

“They had just been told he had hit a human being, and they have not even gone to a police station”, said Ms Hall.

“He went home and told his mum what had happened. His mum gave him another bottle of beer and told him to go and get some rest, which shocked me.”

The crash happened at around 10.15pm on October 16, 2020, when Ms Hall, the mother of two young children, had taken the chance for a night out with friends just before the second Covid lockdown began.

She had stepped into London Road in Cheam when she was hit by Barnett’s Nissan Micra as he travelled at more than 40mph in a 30mph zone.

At court Barnett accepted he had been drinking beer and wine at the Morden Brook Pub that evening, but a breathalyser test after the crash was not possible as he had driven off and was only traced and arrested later.

“He should have showed some empathy, stayed and helped”, said Ms Hall, as she also paid tribute to her daughter’s friends who were forced in the trial to relive the incident they had witnessed.

Ms Hall said they had to make the heart-breaking decision to switch off her daughter’s life support in hospital after doctors said she had no chance of recovery.

“She was my first child, an absolutely amazing and kind person”, she said. “She had just passed her driving test but never got to drive her car.

“Her and her partner had plans  - they had just started to look for a two-bedroom flat in the area.”

The family’s lawyer at Fieldfisher, Eman Hassan, said after the guilty verdict: “It is a huge relief to Rhiannon’s family that the police were able to pursue the driver who killed her and behaved so appallingly.

“We will now work with his motor insurers to ensure Rhiannon’s children, who will grow up without their mother, receive the compensation they deserve."

Ms Hall said she hopes Barnett is handed a prison term when he is sentenced on December 16.

Barnett, from Sutton, denied but was convicted by a jury of causing death by careless driving.

He admitted failing to stop at the scene of an accident when he first appeared in the magistrates court in June last year.