A HEARTBROKEN mum faces the fifth anniversary of her 14-year-old daughter’s tragic death – knowing the teen’s killer was freed from jail 24 hours ago.
Mia Strothers was mown down and left for dead by speeding hit and run driver Kevin Pryce on October 5, 2020.
Mia Strothers, pictured celebrating her 14th birthday, died in 2020
Greater Manchester PoliceKevin Pryce was doing 57mph in a 30mph zone before the hit-and-run crash[/caption]
Matthew PoverMia’s mum Vicky Orman vented her anger at the release of her daughter’s killer[/caption]
Vicky Orman raced to the scene in panic to see her little girl lying on the roadside in her black fur coat, covered in blood.
She spent every minute of the next three days at Mia’s hospital bedside.
But the youngster lost her brave fight for life on October 7.
Within eighteen months Mia’s devastated dad, joiner Daniel Strothers had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died just over a year ago at the age of 45.
Now heartbroken Vicky, 45, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was told Pryce, who is now 50, was released from prison yesterday – the day after the anniversary of the accident and the day before the anniversary of her death.
“I’m just so angry,” she told The Sun. “It’s smack in the middle of the worse three days of my life. I know the day of his release would always be hard for us but the timing of this couldn’t be worse.
“Five years is nothing when you’ve taken someone’s life like that. I want tougher sentences for drivers like Pryce. People need to think before they do these things. It destroys families. Pryce destroyed my family.
“I’m angry that he’s going to be able to go back to his life, go back to his children, even though he’s never shown any remorse. It feels wrong.
“He isn’t allowed to come to north Manchester so I shouldn’t see him – I don’t know what I’d do or say if I did…
“I still have flashbacks to what I saw on the day Mia was hit. I’ve spent so many nights going over everything in my head and I’m sure Dan got ill because of the impact of the trauma.
“He was a non -smoker and always went to the gym but he was destroyed by his grief.”
She added: “Mia was such a lovely girl – she loved music and making Tik Tok videos with her sister. She was always laughing.
“In some ways it feels like I’ve been in a bubble since she died – where have those five years gone!”
Pryce, from Harpurhey, Manchester, had faulty brakes when he struck Mia with his silver BMW 318 as she walked to school at North Manchester Academy.
He was doing up to 57mph in a 30mph zone – nearly twice the speed of other vehicles.
He sped off and told a friend that damage to his car windscreen from the impact had been caused by a yob throwing a brick at his car.
He was later arrested by a police patrol and tested positive for cannabis and cocaine. His car was also found to be unroadworthy with the brakes only 44 per cent effective.
In January 2021 he admitted causing death by dangerous driving, driving with no licence or insurance and failing to stop at the scene of an accident and was jailed for 10 years at Manchester Crown Court. He was also banned from driving for life.
In an emotional victim impact statement at the time Vicky told how she was haunted by the memories of those October days.
She wrote: “Mia was killed by a reckless person and everything in my life changed in that moment. I have not been the same since and I will never be the same again.
“My world is a dark place. For the rest of my life, I will feel guilt that I was not there to protect Mia when she needed it most. Our sense of loss is unbearable.” Vicky, who had to give up her job at a care home after the tragedy, now lives with her younger daughter Lexi, 17, a few miles from where the crash took place in Lightbowne Road, Moston.
Lexi, who used to share a bedroom with her beloved big sister, still struggles with her own mental health and had to drop out of college.
“I still remember that day – it feels like yesterday,” she said.
“I wasn’t at school because of Covid measures – they were phasing us back in – and I was woken up by one of my aunties to be told that Mia had been hit by a car. I started crying. It was a horrible time. I still can’t deal with crowds of people, and I know mum is ‘on pins’ whenever I go out.
“I’m angry about the timing of Pryce’s release. My life is on hold while he goes back to his family. It’s not fair.” In the days after Mia’s death, campaigners fought for road safety improvements on Lightbowne Road and today there are barriers, a zebra crossing and a pelican crossing in the area.
There’s also a bench with a flower box to commemorate Mia and the family visit the scene several times a year to remember the popular schoolgirl.
A charity set up in her name has also raised over £14,000 for Manchester Children’s Hospital, where she spent her final days.
To donate go to: miamustard.muchloved.com
Matthew PoverVicky with her daughter Lexi Strothers holding a picture of Mia[/caption]
Mia’s dad Daniel died after being diagnosed with lung cancer following her death Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
