Cocaine driver who mowed down Wakefield pedestrian dies days after prison release
A motorist high on cocaine who mowed down a pedestrian has died shortly after being released from prison.
The Prison and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has launched an investigation into the death of Connor Fearnley.
He died on October 22 after serving his sentence in HMP Wealstun in Wetherby.
Details are yet to be established, but the PPO is responsible for investigating post-prison deaths that occur within 14 days of release.
The findings will be published at a later date.
Fearnley, 33, was jailed in May after admitting causing serious injury through dangerous driving.
During his sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court it was heard he had turned up for a late shift at work on the business park in Knottingley at around 10pm on April 19 last year.
He appeared to be intoxicated and was ordered to leave and get something to eat.
Moments later, while driving along Pontefract Road, he lost control of his silver Peugeot 307, veered towards a bollard in the middle of the road before mounting the kerb.
He struck the male who had been walking home along the pavement, pinning him against a stone wall. It happened near to the Esso garage.
Fearnley then drove off without checking on the man, who is in his 70s and was left lying in the road.
Fearnley then hit a wall outside Hill Top Pharmacy a short distance away on Headlands Lane.
The police stopped him and he appeared unsteady on his feet and was slurring his speech.
He was given a road-side drug swipe test, which showed he had cocaine in his system. He later took a blood test and was found to be under the legal limit for cocaine.
The victim was airlifted to hospital suffering with a bleed to the brain, a fractured shoulder blade and leg, a wound to his scalp and blockages in his lung.
Fearnley, of Station Road, Ryhill, Wakefield, was arrested and interviewed but denied he was responsible. He said he thought he had clipped a kerb.
He said he was sticking to the speed limit, did not think his driving was dangerous, never saw the pedestrian at any point and denied taking cocaine.
Forensics found strands of the victim’s hair in the smashed window of his Peugeot, the court heard.
It was also heard that he has since been caught drug-driving while high on cocaine.
His barrister told the judge that Fearnley “presented as a broken man” who had turned to cocaine as a coping mechanism after spiralling into depression.
He was given a 26-month sentence and banned from driving for four years.