A mum has blasted a ‘cowardly’ hit and run driver who rammed his uninsured van into a horse led by her daughter before driving away to a nearby pub.
Polly Smith, 39, said she faced ‘every mother’s worst nightmare’ when she heard a scream from her daughter Ellie, 13, moments after setting off with her pony Ora.
Banned driver Chris Rogers, 61, struck the horse – which was being ridden by their eight-year-old neighbour Grace – with his Ford Transit van and sped away from the scene in Higher Treween, Cornwall on January 12.
Grace was rushed to hospital by air ambulance but later discharged with cuts and bruises. Ora – a 17-year-old British Riding Pony – took the full impact of the crash and had to be put down at the scene.
Mum-of-four Polly said: ‘It was just an ordinary day. Ellie had just set off leading the horse with Grace riding and I heard her scream “mum”.
‘I raced around the corner and I just saw Ora’s leg hanging off and a van driving off down the road.
‘I didn’t know what to do, I’d never seen anything like it, there was blood everywhere and I just went numb. I didn’t know where to be or who to help.
‘Suddenly there were police everywhere but we had to wait for an hour and a quarter before the vet could finally get here.
‘Ora was just standing there so quietly, Ellie was just crying and cuddling her but as soon as I saw the leg I knew there was nothing we could do.
‘I feel guilty saying it but she saved their lives by giving hers. When he hit her she fell down and that’s what sent Grace flying off.’
Police launched a manhunt after locals at the Rising Sun Inn allegedly reported suspicious damage to Rogers’ van which was later found by police hidden in a barn.
At Bodmin Magistrates’ Court earlier this month Rogers pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, while disqualified and with no insurance.
His solicitor Chris Nicholls told JPs his client is a ‘horse lover’ who ‘understands the tragedy and the loss of this lovely animal’.
He added: ‘He’s rather a sad individual who lives on universal credit. He’s a horse lover himself and can feel the loss this family has suffered.’
Magistrates released Rogers on unconditional bail but with an interim driving ban until he is sentenced on March 13.
Scaffolding company boss Polly says her other horse Bruce has also been left bereft by the loss of his companion.
She chose not to be in the courtroom when Rogers pleaded guilty as she couldn’t bare to see him but plans to face him at his sentencing.
She said: ‘He is just a coward who was only thinking about himself because he knows he shouldn’t have been driving.
‘He told the court his family has horses and he is an animal lover but he didn’t care – if he’d waited 10 seconds they would’ve been in a wider part of the road but he decided to drive right at them then drive away.
‘I think a prison sentence will be appropriate, he shouldn’t have been on the road and what he did could have been so much worse.
‘I am angry because he has taken years of rides and love away from her.
‘Ellie was only two when we got Ora, she has ridden all her life and she spent hours out here with her, she was her best friend and she just misses her so much.
‘She has kept her shoes and bridle in a shrine in her bedroom with some photos and a candle.’