Homeless drug addict jailed for leaving disabled man to die in freezing weather

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A homeless drug addict who stole a vulnerable man’s mobility scooter, leaving him to die in freezing conditions, has been jailed for six years.

Neil Shadwick, 63, was dragged along a road by Kimberley Ann Hawkins, 41, as she sped away from a supermarket.

Gloucester Crown Court heard Hawkins and Mr Shadwick had gone to two cashpoints at about 2.30am on January 22 last year to get money, after a sexual encounter.

CCTV showed the father-of-two and the defendant riding together on the scooter as they arrived at the second cashpoint, at the Tesco superstore on Stratford Road, in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Hawkins gets off and Mr Shadwick, who had severe Parkinson’s, is seen to get out of the seat and support himself with the scooter as he uses the cash machine.

She then suddenly jumps into the seat and speeds off, leaving Mr Shadwick desperately holding on as he is dragged away from the store.

Further footage shows Mr Shadwick holding on and kicking his legs as Hawkins escapes, causing his trousers to come off.

He falls off near to the Tesco petrol station and then takes about 12 minutes to crawl back to the cashpoint to retrieve his bank card before collapsing on the ground.

The supermarket staff who arrived for work at about 5.45am found Mr Shadwick unconscious outside and alerted the emergency services.

In the ambulance, while drifting in and out of consciousness, Mr Shadwick was able to say “Kim” and “robbery” before he was taken to hospital, where he died later that day.

Hawkins, who was wearing a coat, scarf, hat and gloves because the temperature was about minus 4C, abandoned the scooter on Old Bisley Road after it ran out of battery.

Mary Cowe, prosecuting, told the court Mr Shadwick was “extremely vulnerable” and lived in supported accommodation in Stroud, relying on carers visiting him four times a day.

“This defendant was known to have come to his home and was a regular visitor from the end of 2021,” she said.

“This was a man who was physically vulnerable and that would have been obvious to anyone who visited.”

Describing the incident that led to his death, Miss Cowe said: “There comes a point where he has stepped off the scooter and uses it steady himself.

“The defendant climbs in and drives off. Kimberley Hawkins drove the scooter for 57 seconds, dragging Mr Shadwick along the road.

“The defendant continues to move on without stopping and abandons the scooter on Bisley Old Road.

“The temperature that night was below freezing, and it was sufficiently cold for the local council to activate the severe weather emergency protocol.

“Staff working at the Tesco that night described it as freezing and said the temperature was between minus 4C and minus 6C.”

She added: “She did what she did out of a fit of pique. It was selfish and spiteful but not premeditated.

“She told a friend she had performed sexual favours for Mr Shadwick and he couldn’t pay.

“A man who uses a mobility scooter and who has slurred speech and difficulty walking is vulnerable.

“She had known him for many months and had been intimate with him. His degree of vulnerability would have been obvious to her even if she had just met him.”

Mr Shadwick’s daughter Victoria Bentley said her father must have been “terrified” when he was left alone.

“Kimberley Hawkins knew by leaving Dad in that car park, on a freezing cold night, that she was leaving an incredibly vulnerable man who had no way of communicating as he could barely talk,” she said in a victim impact statement.

“He didn’t have a phone and he had no way of getting any help. He must have been terrified realising that he’d been abandoned and not knowing when or if help would arrive.

“I have watched the CCTV and was horrified – she didn’t even look back. She didn’t try to get him help or call an ambulance. She then hid. What was she trying to achieve by leaving him?”

Mr Shadwick’s sister Tania Rickards said at the time of his death, her family was dealing with the terminal illness of their brother, Kevin, who died months later.

She said it was “beyond comprehension” her brother had been left.

“She didn’t even look back. She could have come back but she didn’t,” she said.

“He must have been in so much pain. Neil didn’t deserve to be treated and abandoned in such a way. I am so proud of the clues he gave the police.”

Hawkins, of no fixed address, had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter, aggravated vehicle taking and assault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to Mr Shadwick. She also admitted separate unrelated theft and drug offences.

Sarah Jenkins, defending, said events only occurred after Hawkins had learned Mr Shadwick was unable to pay her.

“There was no premeditation, and she went round the house, and it was only when the issue of payment occurred… she uses the word ‘frustration’ herself,” she said.

Miss Jenkins said at the time of the offences, Hawkins was living in a tent in a graveyard and was now remorseful.

“She was a lone female, a drug addict who provided sexual services for payment to fund a Class A drug addiction,” she said.

“No one would choose to live the way she was living at that time.

“It is going to be a life-long regret, and she wishes if she could turn back time she would.”

Judge Peter Blair KC, the Recorder of Bristol, imposed a six-year sentence for manslaughter and a consecutive six-month term for the other offences.“It was a freezing cold night in January 2023 when this happened,” the judge said.

“When you drove off, you dragged him for a considerable distance – around a minute.

“It must have been obvious he was there but you turned a blind eye to him. He fell off or become dislodged and you carried on without thought to him.

“You knew he was vulnerable from your interactions with him.

“He was left alone without anybody to get help on a freezing night for some three hours before the employees of Tesco arrived for work.

“He said he was robbed and managed to give your full name.”

Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, who led the investigation, said: “Hawkins’ actions were callous, and they had fatal consequences for a man whom she knew was extremely vulnerable.

“The footage from the early hours of that morning is heart breaking to watch, as Neil Shadwick was abandoned in sub-zero temperatures in the street without his mobility scooter and therefore unable to seek shelter or help.

“The family feel robbed that they didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to Neil, as he was cruelly taken away from them.”