Man charged over Boxing Day horror crash in Askern that killed three pedestrians

A 24-year-old man has been charged over a Boxing Day horror crash that killed three people and has left another person fighting for their life.
Three people have been killed after a collision with a car on Sutton Road in Askern.Three people have been killed after a collision with a car on Sutton Road in Askern.
Three people have been killed after a collision with a car on Sutton Road in Askern.

Ricky Joe Hepworth, of Newmarche Drive in Askern, has been charged with a series of offences after a car ploughed into a group of four pedestrians on Sutton Road in Askern, near Doncaster, at around 11pm.

The police charges accuse him of being uninsured and unlicensed and of failing to stop at the scene of the collision on Saturday night.

Andy and Fay TomlinsonAndy and Fay Tomlinson
Andy and Fay Tomlinson
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Hepworth has been charged with three counts of death by dangerous driving, three counts of aggravated vehicle taking, three counts of causing a death while driving uninsured and unlicensed, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.

He is currently remanded in police custody and was due to appear at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court this morning for a preliminary hearing.

Hepworth is accused of being the driver of a blue Volvo S60 that hit the four pedestrians in a collision on Sutton Road at the junction with Manor Way in Askern.

Three of the pedestrians, two 54-year-old women and a 48-year-old man, died as a result of their injuries.

Mandy and John DeereMandy and John Deere
Mandy and John Deere
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The fourth pedestrian, a 57-year-old man, suffered what police describe as ‘life-threatening injuries’ in the collision.

He remains in hospital in a critical condition.

The families of those involved are being supported by specialist officers, with the victims of the collision yet to be formally named by police.

But they have been named locally as husband and wife Andy and Fay Tomlinson and friend Mandy Deere, whose husband John is understood to be the person in hospital.

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband has sent his condolences to the families of those killed and expressed his sadness at the collision.

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The Doncaster North MP wrote on Twitter: “My deepest sympathies to the families of the three people killed in the horrific car accident in Askern and the person seriously injured.”

Floral tributes have been left on railings by the scene of the collision by shocked members of the local community, who have said Askern is in ‘total shock and devastation’ at the loss of life as a result of the collision.

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward,

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to call police on 101, quoting incident number 968 of 26 December 2015.