'You ruined my life': Heartbroken mum faces 'arrogant' Barnsley man who ran over and killed handyman son
“I struggle to go to shops he went to as it brings back too many memories, of holding his hand in the road”
A heartbroken mother whose handyman son was killed while knocking on doors looking for work told a court: “I did not just lose my son or my friend that day - I lost myself.”
The last time Lori Hilton saw her son, Liam Green, alive and well was when he stopped at her home in Rose Tree Avenue on April 3 for a coffee.
The 45-year-old father and recovering drug addict asked her if she thought it was a good idea to knock on doors around her estate offering to mow elderly people’s lawns for £7.50.
The next time she saw him around an hour later, he was lying fatally injured under a car at the bottom of her garden, where she ran to hold his hand as he died.
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He was run over and killed by Mark Wigley, of Royston Avenue, who took offence when Liam called at his mother’s house, assuming he was “a drug user pestering old women for money.”
In what a judge called an act of “breath-taking arrogance,” Wigley and two members of his family set out to track down Liam and “teach him a lesson” - which culminated in the 60-year-old deliberately running him over.
At his sentencing for manslaughter Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday (October 29), Ms Hilton bravely told Wigley how his and his family’s actions had “ruined her life.”
“Liam was no angel but I still loved him and I stood by him,” the widow told the court.
“When he was in rehab, he came out a changed man. He was happy, he made friends, and I was proud of him.
“I miss being with Liam on weekends. We would buy chocolates and watch spooky films.
“I struggle to go to shops he went to as it brings back too many memories, of holding his hand in the road.
“I miss his phone calls - I would say ‘big hug from mam,’ and he would say ‘big hug from Liam’.
“I cannot move on. I had to move house as he was killed at the bottom of my garden. I cannot enjoy my hobbies anymore.
“[Mark Wigley and his family] ruined mine and Liam’s brother's lives.
“I think of how I won’t see him until I join him. Sometimes I pray for that day to come.
“I'm so miserable.
“I hope and pray he is at peace and not suffering anymore.
“I did not just lose my son or my friend that day. I lost myself.”
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During the trial, a tearful Ms Hilton told police in a video interview of the moment Wigley pulled up alongside her and said he was looking for her son to “smash him to bits.”
“I said [to Mark Wigley], ‘please don’t beat him up, please don’t kill him, I’m his mum,’ and he said ‘he’s f***ing dead, and if he goes to prison I’ll get somebody to kill him in prison’.
“He was so cocky,” she wept.
She later emerged from her home on Rose Tree Avenue after hearing shouting, only to see Liam lying fatally injured underneath Mark Wigley’s car.
“I screamed, ‘you’ve f***ing killed him’,” Mrs Hilton told police.
“I ran across the road.
“I held Liam’s hand.
“He was only going around asking if he could cut grass,” said the widower.
Prosecutor Mr Tom Storey KC also read a victim impact statement from Liam’s ex-partner and the mother of his two sons, Sally Wilkinson.
She wrote how the 45-year-old dad had “big heart” and could “leave them all in stitches,” and shared how her family spread his ashes on Father’s Day.
“Liam's death has left me and my boys broken,” she wrote,
“We miss Liam’s presence, but hold onto the memories of him. Those are irreplaceable.
“Me and Liam had such a best friend relationship although we weren't together. We had 14 very happy years.
“I know he's up there talking to me, pushing me on to support our boys.”
Mark Wigley was jailed for nine years.
The two members of his family who set out with him to find Liam - daughter Sarah Wigley, 39, and brother-in-law Neil Shaw, 54, both of Royston Road - were found not guilty on all charges.