A woman who stole a defenceless man’s mobility scooter, dragged him across the ground and left him to die in “brutal” freezing conditions has been jailed.
Kimberley Ann Hawkins, 41, previously admitted killing Neil Shadwick, who was riding his scooter outside a Tesco supermarket in Gloucestershire on January 22 last year.
Hawkins dragged the father-of-two helplessly for about a minute before getting on the scooter and driving away before abandoning the vehicle on Bisley Old Road in Stroud. The vehicle was found by a member of the public at around 8am.
Mr Shadwick, 63, who used a mobility scooter as his means of transport, was left overnight in sub-zero temperatures and was found unresponsive in a car park on Stratford Road in Stroud hours later at 6am. He later died in hospital.
Gloucestershire Police described the defendant’s actions as “sickening” and said he knew Mr Shadwick, who suffers from severe Parkinson’s, was “extremely vulnerable”.
Hawkins, of no fixed address, had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter, as well as aggravated driving and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, in relation to Mr Shadwick’s death.
He was sentenced to six years and six months in prison at Gloucester Crown Court on Thursday for three offences connected to Mr Shadwick’s death, as well as other separate charges.
Sentencing Hawkins, Bristol Clerk Judge Peter Blair KC described the series of events that led to the defendant killing Mr Shadwick as “horrific”.
Noting that a neighbour described Hawkins as a regular visitor to Mr Shadwick’s house since the end of 2021, the judge said: “The fact is that you undoubtedly took or attempted to take money from him to feed your drug habit at that time.
“What we saw in court was the horrific image of you and him going into a shop and withdrawing money and giving it to you, [before] “It turned out he couldn’t withdraw any money.”
Judge Blair said the defendant then got into the driver’s seat of Mr Shadwick’s mobility scooter, which the victim was leaning on for support, and then drove off. “You dragged him behind you for a long time,” the judge said, describing Hawkins as “ignoring” him and Mr Shadwick as “getting scraped up” as a result, before he moved and Hawkins continued driving.
“You knew he was a very vulnerable man,” the judge told the defendant. “He was left there for nearly three hours in the freezing cold with no opportunity to get help.”
In a victim impact statement read out on her behalf in court, Mr Shadwick’s sister described her brother as “clearly a vulnerable man” and said of his killing: “Neil was taken from us all, suddenly and brutally.”
He described being shown CCTV footage of the incident. “I was horrified and have had flashbacks and nightmares about it ever since,” he said. “Neil didn’t deserve to be treated and abandoned like that – no one does.”
The court heard that after having sex, Hawkins and Mr Shadwick went to two separate ATMs to withdraw money at around 2.30am.
CCTV footage captured the pair getting on the scooter together as they arrived at the second ATM at the Tesco supermarket.
Hawkins gets out and Mr Shadwick is seen getting up from the seat and using the scooter for support as he uses the ATM.
She then suddenly jumps onto the couch and speeds away, dragging herself out of the store, leaving Mr. Shadwick holding on helplessly.
The footage shows Mr Shadwick grabbing and kicking Hawkins’ legs to stop him running away, causing his trousers to fall down.
He falls near a Tesco service station and takes around 12 minutes to get back to the ATM to get his bank card, before collapsing on the ground.
Supermarket staff arrived at work at around 5.45am to find Mr Shadwick unconscious outside and called emergency services.
When Mr Shadwick regained consciousness, he was able to tell them the words “Kim” and “robbery” before he was taken to hospital, where he died later the same day.
Wearing a jacket, scarf, hat and gloves as temperatures were around minus 4 degrees Celsius, Hawkins abandoned the scooter on Old Bisley Road after its battery died.
Prosecutor Mary Cowe told the court Mr Shadwick was “extremely vulnerable” and was living in supported accommodation in Stroud, relying on carers who visited him four times a day.
“He also added:[Hawkins] “He did what he did in a fit of rage. It was selfish and spiteful, but it wasn’t premeditated. He told a friend that he had done sexual favours for Mr Shadwick and that he couldn’t pay.”
Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, who led the investigation, said: “Hawkins’ actions were callous and had fatal consequences for a man he knew was extremely vulnerable.”
“The images from that early morning were heartbreaking. Neil Shadwick was abandoned on the streets in sub-zero temperatures, without his wheelchair and therefore unable to seek shelter or help.
“The family feel robbed that they never had the opportunity to say goodbye to Neil as he was cruelly taken from them.”