An uninsured hit-and-run driver with no licence has been jailed after he knocked down and killed a cyclist before fleeing the scene.
Nathan Shultz, 22, had been to a party before he killed mother-of-three Agnieszka Pocztowska, 41, as she cycled to work in Crewe, Cheshire, in September 2020.
Schultz, from Middleport in Stoke-on-Trent, carried on driving despite shattering his windscreen but then went back to the scene to see what he had done.
However, instead of stopping to help his victim, who was engaged to be married, he left her for dead by the side of Hungerford Road.
Schultz carried on driving the silver Ford Focus and hit a second cyclist on Crewe Road, Haslington, although the man was not seriously injured.
Mother-of-three Agnieszka Pocztowska, 41, was killed by an uninsured hit-and-run driver with no licence as she cycled to work in Crewe, Cheshire, in September 2020
He went on to swap seats with his 21-year-old passenger, Kasey Wrench, and the Focus was later found abandoned in Trent Vale, Stoke-on-Trent.
He tried to avoid detection by dumping some clothing in woodland and taking a taxi to his mum’s house in Middleport. But he was linked to the fatal collision through CCTV evidence, fibre transfer, DNA, and glass fragments.
In a victim statement made in September 2021 Ms Pocztowska’s fiancé, Marek Kida, described her as having a ‘golden heart’.
Mr Kida said: ‘She was a beautiful, caring and passionate person.’
He added that he felt his whole world had ended when she died and he was ‘utterly devastated’ and unable to function, the court heard.
He recalled having to tell their three children and the wider family what had happened. He also told how he and Ms Pocztowska were engaged and she had bought her wedding dress.
Shultz was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after a four-day trial at Chester Crown Court in January. On Wednesday, he was jailed for 10 years and handed a 10-year driving ban.
Police arrested Shultz after a manhunt was launched following the crash.
Wrench, from Trent Vale, was also arrested. Last December he was sentenced to 12 months in prison and suspended from driving for two years after pleading guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.
As well as being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, Shultz pleaded guilty to causing death by driving while uninsured and causing death by driving without a licence.
Nathan Shultz, 22, from Middleport in Stoke-on-Trent was jailed for 10 years and handed a 10-year driving ban
He also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving driving without a licence, driving without insurance, two charges of failing to stop after an accident and then two charges of failing to report an accident.
Adam Watkins, mitigating, said there was no direct evidence that Shultz had consumed alcohol or direct evidence of impairment. He said his client was arrested at about 9am, two hours after the collision, and no police officers noted him being intoxicated.
He said Shultz was the ‘man of the family before his time’ after losing his dad, grandad and uncle. Mr Watkins added: ‘He showed levels of maturity which were absent on September 14, 2020.
‘There is evidence of remorse. He is still a young man. He can’t undo that what he has done. He can’t turn the clock back. He will have to serve the appropriate punishment.’
Judge Michael Leeming said: ‘The fatal collision took place shortly before 7am. Visibility was good. The road surface was dry.
‘Agnieszka was struck head on by your car, thrown on the bonnet, then the roof of the vehicle before coming to rest. She sustained catastrophic injuries. She was taken to hospital. Extensive resuscitation attempts were made but she was pronounced dead.
‘CCTV showed you driving. There was no obvious reason for you to be on the wrong side of the road. The case was put on the basis you were intoxicated at the time. She was there to be seen and should have been seen by any careful and competent driver.
‘There was a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road – driving on the wrong side of the road for no apparent reason, no driving licence, no insurance, having consumed alcohol, a complete disregard of the danger driving in that way would cause to others.’
