Hit-and-run mother went into hiding after death of boy in Bristol

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/sep/29/hit-and-run-bristol

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A mother-of-two who went on the run after knocking down and killing a boy as he walked home from a religious service admitted causing death by dangerous driving today.

Hannah Saaf, a mother of twins, was found sleeping rough in a barn 10 days after knocking down 11-year-old Sam Riddall. The recorder of Bristol, Judge Tom Crowther QC, adjourned sentencing so that psychiatric reports could be prepared. Defending counsel Ian Kelcey told Bristol crown court that Saaf, 27, was undergoing in-patient treatment at a mental health establishment.

After the court hearing, the boy's parents, Martin and Rachel Riddall, who both work for Christian organisations and have three other children, released a statement through their church, paying tribute to Sam.

It read: "The last three months have been an incredibly painful and difficult time, we miss our lovely Sam so much.

"We have been overwhelmed by the love and support that we have experienced from our friends and families, our church, our local community and many people around the country and are so thankful for all the cards, letters and prayers from so many people.

"This love and support is helping us to get through each day. Sam asked the big questions of life and we had lots of opportunity to talk with him about heaven.

"Knowing that he is there now and that we will see him again one day gives us great hope and we continue to cling to our faith in a loving God to help us make sense of this awful tragedy."

Sam, a keen footballer, had been at a youth club service at the Henleaze and Westbury Community Church in Bristol on the evening of his death, on 1 May.

At 9.15pm he was walking with the father of one of his friends and three other children along the pavement on Eastfield Road, Westbury-on-Trym, when Saaf's car, a white Ford Focus estate, mounted the kerb and knocked him down.

He was trapped under the car. The adult he was with suffered minor injuries but the other three children were unhurt.

Skid marks left along the road and pavement showed how the car screeched across the kerb towards a wall and then veered back on to the road.

Saaf fled the scene on foot and went missing for 10 days. As police attempted to track her down, doctors at Bristol Royal Infirmary tried in vain to save Sam.

Five days after the crash, Avon and Somerset Police took the unusual step of naming Saaf and releasing her image. A week after his death, Sam's parents made a public appeal for Saaf to turn herself in.

Mr Riddall, 45, a former RAF mechanic, said: "Sam was the most wonderful of boys and we loved him very much. His smile could light up the darkest room and his attitude to life shone out of him like a light.

"He was passionate about football and he loved his brothers and us. He also knew he was loved by us very much."

He added: "But we miss him very much indeed. And we wish he was here with us every second of the day."

Mrs Riddall, 39, fought back tears as she said: "I am here to appeal to Hannah as a mum, who has lost a precious son. Please come forward, Hannah, and talk to the police so we can begin to put our lives back together."

Saaf was finally arrested on 10 May after a farmer found her sleeping in a barn in a Somerset village, around 10 miles from the scene of the crime.

More than 500 people joined Sam's parents and his three brothers Jacob, 14, Thomas, nine and Joshua, five, at a memorial service after his funeral at Woodlands Church in Clifton, Bristol on 18 May.

Millfield school-educated Saaf graduated with a law degree from Bristol University before giving birth to twins Leo and Guy by husband Nicholas Saaf in January 2007.

Dressed in a grey pinstripe suit, purple jumper and black headband, Saaf appeared calm as she entered her guilty plea.

Saaf, of Bristol, will be sentenced on 27 November.