Mother-of-two pleads guilty to killing Bristol boy

Mother-of-two Hannah Saaf has pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court today to causing the death of 11-year-old Sam Riddall by dangerous driving.

Saaf, aged 27, knocked down and killed Sam in Eastfield Road, Westbury-on-Trym, on May 1, while driving a white Ford Focus estate.

Sam was walking with Dr Peter Harbord, the father of one of his friends, and three other children at around 9.15pm after leaving a youth club service at the nearby Henleaze and Westbury Community Church.

The white Ford Focus estate car was travelling along Eastfield Road towards the centre of the village when it careered off the road, mounted the pavement and hit the group.

Skid marks left along the road and pavement revealed where the car screeched across the kerb towards a wall and then veered back onto the road.

Saaf, a mother of two, bolted from the scene, leaving her white Ford Focus estate and Sam behind.

But after four days Saaf was still missing – so on May 5 Avon and Somerset police took the unusual step of both naming her and releasing her picture.

The public were told Saaf, whose maiden name was Jewell, was the registered keeper of the car at the scene – registration number X391NOK.

She had previous connections to Bristol, Taunton, Glastonbury, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and London and her last known address was in the Kingsdown area of Bristol.

The search had heated up, with dogs and helicopters searching Bristol and the surrounding areas. Airports, ports and British Transport Police were also on alert.

A week after Sam's death, his parents Martin and Rachel, who have three other sons aged five, nine and 14, made a televised appeal for Saaf to turn herself in.

Mrs Riddall, 39, who worked for Christian organisation Agape, 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.

"Hannah, if you are watching this, or you can hear this, please come forward."

Before Mrs Riddall made her appeal, her tearful husband, a former RAF mechanic who worked for Campus Crusade for Christ International, paid tribute to their son.

Mr Riddall, 45, said: "This is an impossible time for us. We have three other children and they are full of questions that we can't even begin to answer.

"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 indeed.

"He also loved Jesus and it's comforting for us to know he's with him now. But we miss him very much indeed. And we wish he was here with us every second of the day."

Sam was in year 7 at Redland Green School.

Police said the appeal sparked a number of sightings but Saaf's "transient lifestyle" was making the investigation more challenging.

Then finally on May 10, officers arrested Saaf after she was found sleeping in a barn in the village of Publow, near Pensford, south Bristol – some 10 miles from the scene of the crime.

She was held at a police station in Bristol and charged on May 11 with causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop and/or report an accident, driving otherwise than in accordance with her licence and driving without insurance.

Appearing at court, Saaf who gave her address as St Michael's Hill, Bristol, wore a grey pin-striped skirt suit, and looked dishevelled and vacant.

Four-and-a-half months later she appeared at Bristol Crown Court, where she pleaded guilty to killing Sam.

The Recorder of Bristol, Judge Tom Crowther QC, adjourned sentencing to November 27 for psychiatric reports to be prepared.

Defending counsel Ian Kelcey said Saaf "was undergoing inpatient treatment at a mental health establishment".

Judge Crowther told the court a hospital disposal order could be considered.