Devastated family pay tribute to popular ‘running man’ killed by joyrider

The devastated family of a popular man killed by a joyrider have paid tribute to him. They said David Francis - the "Litherland Running Man" - "could have lived to 100 years of age".

The 63-year-old runner was killed after 17-year-old Lewis Wright lost control of a speeding Audi S8 as he attempted to drive the wrong way around the roundabout at the bottom of The Marian Way, Netherton, just after 9pm on April 13, 2023, reports the ECHO.^[1]

He crashed through a set of iron railings and ploughed into David, which crushed him between the car and the garden wall of a home on Morgan Mews.

He suffered multiple severe injuries and died at the scene. At Liverpool Crown Court on June 30, prosecutor Ian Harris said Wright had been driving at high speed in the £100,000 Audi S8, which had been stolen from an address in Rainford at around 4am on April 13.

It was picked up on CCTV at around 9pm, when it was being driven by Wright, who had received the stolen car sometime during the day. While travelling westbound on The Marian Way, he accelerated to speeds of between 54 and 62mph in a 20mph zone before losing control at the roundabout moments before the fatal crash.

He said: "The defendant lost control of the Audi and one of the wheels had struck the curb of the roundabout close to the house (on Morgan Mews). He drove around the roundabout in an anti-clockwise direction - the wrong way. He drove onto the pavement through the guardrails, upheaving one completely. He drove into a pedestrian - 63-year-old David Francis.

"David Francis was a healthy, vibrant man. He was crushed between the front of the Audi and a low garden wall. The concrete wall pillar was displaced and it was found 13m away - an indication of the velocity of the vehicle."

Lewis Wright, of Howard Florey Avenue, Netherton (Image: Merseyside police)

The out-of-control car continued through the garden before crashing into the house. Wright, of Howard Florey Avenue, Netherton, then fled the scene, leaving Mr Francis "horribly injured, perhaps almost dead".

He claimed he did not know he had hit Mr Francis until the following day when police reported a man had died. Despite this, he did not turn himself in until April 19, after a picture of him was published on the ECHO website.

In a statement, he told police: "I tried to slow down but it wouldn't stop. I was pumping and pumping (the brake) but it wouldn't work."

However, an examination of the car found its brakes were in good condition, and Wright would have had full control of them up to the point of the crash.

He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while driving uninsured, causing death while driving without a licence, and taking a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Mr Francis' sister Karen said: "He mangled my brother with the car. He caused immeasurable pain to David's vulnerable 85-year-old mother. He caused an innocent person, who inspired a local community, to be killed. He caused a wholly fit 63-year-old to die when he could have lived to 100 years of age."

Tributes left for Litherland Running Man David Francis in Netherton (Image: Liverpool Echo)

Mr Francis was known locally as the "Litherland running man", and was frequently spotted running shirtless between Litherland and Southport or Manchester.

His nephew Lewis Francis said: "David was a true athlete. Everyone knew him in the community. A thousand people turned up around Litherland with stories about how they knew him. He ran 40 or 30 miles every night because that was his life. I've known champion boxers come to me and say he was fitter than them.

"He was a very religious man. He was famous, but he didn't do it for anyone other than himself. He was a very modest man."

Karen added that their mother Rita, whom Mr Francis lived with and cared for, had died shortly after learning of her son's tragic death.

Joanne Maxwell, said Wright had expressed high levels of remorse for what he had done, and described the teenager as "vulnerable" and "immature". She said: "He has a future ahead of him that he's hopeful will be free of prior negative influences. He hopes to employ himself on boats and become a commercial fisherman, which will take him away from this city and organised crime."

The teenager, who has seven previous convictions for 13 offences, including multiple counts of battery and assaulting emergency services, was previously protected by a youth anonymity order. However, Judge Andrew Menary decided to lift the order ahead of Wright's 18th birthday on July 4.

The judge said: "This was a relatively short street, and over that distance the investigator found you accelerated between 54 and 62mph. You approached the roundabout at that speed and attempted to navigate it by going around it the wrong way. At that speed... a collision was inevitable.

"Tragically you not only hit a lot of things, you also hit someone - David Francis. He was on the pavement at the junction when you mowed him down. There's no other description for it.

"The car ploughed into him and ended up embedded in the rear wall of a house on Morgan Mews. David Francis didn't stand a chance of survival at all. He tragically died at the scene.

"You then got out of the car and ran away. You say you didn't know you had hit someone. That may be correct... But even if you didn't know at the time, you must have found out some time. It was in the local papers the next day and it must have been the talk of the neighbourhood. And yet you didn't hand yourself in to the police for six more days.

"At the time, you had no thought but saving yourself from the carnage you had caused.

"You told police you had attempted to brake when you approached the roundabout. That is plainly nonsense. You were behind the wheel of a fancy and powerful car, had no licence and had never passed a test. You chose to accelerate along the road.

"It's the type of arrogant driving of fast, stolen cars seen all too often, and is designed to intimidate communities, and tragically David Francis paid a terrible price for this foolish behaviour.

"He was a very fit, healthy, vibrant 63-year-old with many years ahead of him. He had a large, loving family. He lived with his elderly mother and she died a short time after this, with her heart utterly broken."

He sentenced Wright to four years in a young offenders institution, and disqualified him from driving for seven years, after which he must pass an extended test.

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References

^{^} the ECHO. (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^{^} Welsh police officer and dad of three dies in crash on way home from work (www.dailypost.co.uk)
^{^} Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter (www.dailypost.co.uk)