Adam O’Toole: Jail for hit-and-run driver Brett Kingsley – family says ‘sorry’
Jul 22 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
THE hit-and-run driver who lied for three years after killing Adam O’Toole is today starting his first full day behind bars.
Brett Kingsley, 25, drove off after fatally injuring 18-year-old Adam on New Hey Road in Salendine Nook on March 6, 2007.
He later told his family, police and his insurance company the Rover 200 car he was in had been damaged in a car park collision.
Police only caught up with Kingsley, of Cecil Street, Oldham, after receiving a tip-off in February this year.
He was initially arrested on suspicion of causing Adam’s death by dangerous driving.
But the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was no evidence to suggest he had been driving dangerously.
Kingsley was instead charged with, and admitted, perverting the course of justice over the fraudulent insurance claim.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Judge Alistair McCallum at Bradford Crown Court yesterday.
The judge said: “The sentence I pass cannot in any way console Adam’s family.”
He told Kingsley the collision had killed Adam “in the prime of his youthful life”.
He added: “Callously you didn’t even stop, but made off immediately and thereafter began a series of lies that went on for a long time.”
Adam, of Woodhead Road in Holmbridge, was studying for a BTec diploma in sports studies at Huddersfield New College.
He was on his way back to college after taking a break when he was hit by Kingsley at about 10.30am.
A massive police hunt for the driver followed. Officers issued an e-fit picture of the suspect and there were numerous media appeals.
Friends and family launched a campaign for information.
At Adam’s inquest in July 2008, coroner Roger Whittaker recorded a verdict of unlawful killing.
Last year the case featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme and website.
But it wasn’t until police got a tip-off that they went to Kingsley’s home in February. He broke down in tears and admitted driving the car.
During yesterday’s court hearing, Christopher Tehrani, representing Kingsley, said his client had dropped out of university three times since the tragedy.
He added: “For three years he carried this secret and revealed nothing to anybody. It had some consequences on him, albeit nothing like the consequences the family had to bear.”
Mr Tehrani said Kingsley became “withdrawn and sorrowful” every March since the tragedy.
“The incident has had a devastating effect on him as a result of having to keep this terrible secret to himself,” he said.
He said Kingsley, who had no previous convictions, had been immature at the time, but had since “grown up”.
He revealed he had become a father nine months ago and was saving money to support his child.
