A MOTORIST who ploughed into schoolgirl Ruby Cropper and killed her had been driving like a “looney” shortly before the collision, a jury has heard.

At the opening of a trial at the Nightingale Court, based at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester, a jury was told how 36-year-old Andrew Cairns was seen hurtling along roads in Whitefield and Radcliffe at high speed.

He had one hand on the steering wheel and the other arm through an open window with his hand on the roof of his Suzuki Alto.

Ruby, aged 11, was with a friend and crossing New Road, Radcliffe, at 4.20pm on August 10, 2020, when Cairns’ car struck her at up to 44mph.

Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, told the court that Ruby was hit by the nearside of the car and propelled forwards along the road by almost 46ft.

She suffered unsustainable injuries and died in hospital in the early hours on August 12.

Cairns, who had been driving home from work, did not stop, dumping his car in Greendale Drive, away from his Rupert Street, Radcliffe, address, before walking home.

Later he rang police to tell them he had bit a girl, aged 10 or 11 and admitted he had been speeding, claiming he had been doing around 40mph and that he had seen Ruby about 50 yards before the collision.

Cairns claimed he had not stopped because he “panicked”.

“He knew exactly what he had done,” said Mr Baxter.

Mr Baxter added that, had Cairns been driving at the correct speed, then the collision would probably not have occurred.

Cairns has admitted causing death by careless driving but denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Giving evidence, witness John McCann told the jury how he was driving home on Higher Lane, Whitefield, when his car was overtaken at speed by a Suzuki Alto in what he considered was a “risky manoeuvre”.

The Alto pulled onto the wrong side of the road at high speed, swerving back in front of him before disappearing into the distance.

“It must have been travelling at quite a pace because I didn’t keep up with it,” said Mr McCann, who told the court that the manner of the other driver’s driving caused him to swear.

“I just said, ‘f***ing hell. What a looney,” said Mr McCann.

After press reports about Ruby’s death, Mr McCann realised it involved the car he had seen and so contacted police.

Other witnesses, who rushed to help Ruby as she lay in the middle of the carriageway, told how they had seen her at the side of the road with a friend, with one recalling to police how she saw the Suzuki as it headed towards the girl, appearing to be out of control and “lurching around”.

A short CCTV clip of Cairns’ car being driven away immediately after the collision was shown.

“That shows that Mr Cairns made no attempt to stop,” said PC Phil Drummond, a roads policing investigator.

To be found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving a driver needs to have fallen far below the standards expected of a careful and competent driver.

Telling the jury that this is what Cairns did, Mr Baxter stressed: “This isn’t a momentary lapse of concentration attributed to distraction or absent mindedness.

“The prosecution suggest he made a deliberate decision to drive at the speed, he did for a significant period of time, overtaking other vehicles at over the speed limit, performing unsafe manoeuvres in residential streets.

“Put simply, this was a collision waiting to happen.”

The trial continues.