A woman who tried to stop a thief from stealing a sports car from her driveway was run over and left dying in front of her partner and her partner’s five-year-old child.
Lynda Hankey, 42, described as a caring and kind mother of two, had left the engine running in her distinctive yellow MG outside her modern terrace home in Worsley Mesnes, near Wigan.
As she went away briefly to collect the child, the thief leapt into the driving seat and drove directly at her, leaving her with such catastrophic head injuries that she died later in Wigan Royal Infirmary.
Police recovered the abandoned sports car partially hidden in an alley 11 miles away in Leigh, Greater Manchester. They later arrested two men, aged 22 and 23, on suspicion of murder.
More than 30 detectives were seconded to the murder investigation as family liaison officers tried to comfort Jamie Hudson, 40, the dead woman’s partner, and Ms Hudson’s son, Tyler.
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Ms Hankey, mother to two grown-up sons, Nathan, 23, and Damian, 20, was described as a lovely woman by neighbours. She worked as a driver for DHL, the courier firm.
On her Facebook page she described the home she shared with Ms Hudson and their children as a “very busy household and loud”. “We are both friendly people and very family-orientated,” she said. Nathan, a customer services adviser, said in tribute to his mother: “Rest in peace, mother. You were my world and you always will be. I’m glad I was with you and that the last words we said to each other were ‘I love you’.
“I am happy that you did not suffer. Alas, there is now a hole in my life that can never be filled.” He said that his mother did “nothing but love everyone and did not deserve to die like this”. Damian, her younger son, said: “Rest easy, mummy. I love you, I miss you and you were right, you were all I needed.”
Ms Hankey’s ex-husband, Steven, had taken his children to the hospital to say a final goodbye to their mother. “It was heart-wrenching,” he said. “She never regained consciousness. I think they were just waiting for me to get Nathan and Damian there.
“Me and Lynda have been divorced for over ten years but we have stayed friends and we were good friends. It was an amicable break-up. She was just a really lovely person. Everybody liked her.”
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Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins, of Greater Manchester Police, described Ms Hankey’s death as terrible and sad.
It was growing dark at 4.20pm on Thursday evening when Ms Hankey stepped out to start her car. Mr Hopkins said: “Lynda had left the car momentarily to return to the house to pick up the child. When they came out they saw somebody else in the driving seat. She stood in the road to prevent the car being driven away but she was knocked into the air, suffering very serious injuries. Sadly, she died from those injuries.”
The officer would not be drawn on the motive but there has been speculation that the vehicle was taken by opportunistic car thieves. James Gaskell, 60, who left flowers at the house, said the area had been plagued by petty crime, complaining that vandals once removed his car’s wheelnuts.
He said: “I just cannot understand how the robber could drive into her and not stop. It is callous.”
Danielle Crompton, a friend of the family, described Ms Hankey as a “good woman and a caring and kind person”. She would “always be in my heart and thoughts”, she said.