Pregnant care home worker lost her unborn baby boy when she was ‘thrown into the air’ in hit-and-run – after driver and his passenger filmed themselves laughing and singing

A pregnant care home worker lost her unborn baby boy after she was ‘thrown into the air’ in a hit-and-run collision, a court has heard.

Renju Joseph, 31, was struck by a car driven at high speed by Ashir Shahid, 20, as she walked on a pedestrian crossing in the village of Bamber Bridge, near Preston, Lancashire.

The Toyota Prius was estimated to be travelling at between 58mph and 71mph on Station road, a 30mph zone, in wet conditions, Preston Crown Court heard.

Shocking video footage of Shahid and his passenger showed the pair laughing and singing to music in the high-speed vehicle just moments before the tragic crash. 

Mrs Joseph, who was five months pregnant, was rushed to hospital from the scene in Station Road in the early evening of September 29 for treatment to head and spinal injuries.

The life of her unborn child was also left in ‘severe jeopardy’ as a result of the collision, prosecutor Emma Keogh said. 

In an attempt to save the pregnancy, an emergency C-section was carried out. Mrs Joseph’s placenta had ruptured, with heavy bleeding.

Tragically, her child was born that evening but survived for just ‘a few hours’ before passing away.

The Toyota Prius was estimated to be travelling at between 58mph and 71mph on Station road, a 30mph zone, in wet conditions. Tragically, Mrs Joseph’s child was born on the evening of the crash but survived for just ‘a few hours’ before passing away

Ms Keogh described Mrs Joseph’s pregnancy as ‘planned and very much wanted’, adding that it was her first pregnancy with her husband whom she had married about five years earlier.

At the time of the tragic crash, Mrs Joseph, a healthcare assistant, was walking slightly behind two colleagues on the crossing at about 7.50pm as they were walking towards a night shift.

A motorist travelling in the opposite direction said the Prius driver seemed to increase speed about 15 metres away from the crossing and then swerved away from the two pedestrians in front.

Mrs Joseph was then hit and ‘thrown into the air for quite some distance’ before she tumbled and rolled into the car, the witness said.  

Ms Keogh, who described the Toyota as driving ‘at speed’, added: ‘It was clear that throughout the journey the driving by Ashir Shahid left a lot to be desired.’

Video clips recovered from the mobile phone of Shahid’s front seat passenger showed the pair laughing and singing to music as the car is driven erratically and at speed.

A witness to the collision told Preston Crown Court (pictured) that Mrs Joseph was ‘thrown into the air for quite some distance’. An examination of Shahid’s phone revealed that on the night of the collision he made an online search for ‘charge for hit and run human’

The passenger is also seen to put his feet out of the window while Shahid removes both hands from the wheel at times. 

Minutes after the collision, the Toyota was abandoned in the nearby village of Lostock Hall before it was later moved on to a flatbed truck and driven to Farnworth, Greater Manchester, where it was found days later by police.

Shahid was arrested at an address in Kirkham after he had spent several days staying at a friend’s house in Accrington.

Despite making no comment when interviewed by police, an examination of Shahid’s phone revealed that on the night of the collision he made an online search for ‘charge for hit and run human’.

Meanwhile, a video clip on his Snapchat account showed him singing along to the Shaggy song It Wasn’t Me and laughing.

Shahid, of Windsor Road, Walton le Dale, Preston, pleaded guilty in June to causing the death of Mrs Joseph’s baby Olive by dangerous driving.

He also admitted causing serious injury to Mrs Joseph by dangerous driving.

Shahid will be sentenced on Friday along with a 17-year-old male who pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.