A MAN who regularly drove under the influence of crack cocaine and heroin was jailed yesterday for the hit-and-run death of hospital secretary Beverley Smith.

Shaun Harvey sped off after crashing into the 20-year-old, leaving her dying in her mother's arms.

Harvey - whose 12-year-old son, Aaron, was in the passenger seat - had never passed a driving test and had previously been jailed for dangerous driving.

Last night, Miss Smith's family said they were serving a life sentence because of Harvey's actions, which police described as cold and callous.

Miss Smith, who worked at Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital, was hit as she walked with her mother, Norma Lawrence, to collect her grandmother's pension.

Harvey, 34, tried to cover up his role in the accident, on November 4, and was eventually arrested by armed police, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Ian West, prosecuting, said that Miss Smith had been crossing Cass House Road, in Hemlington, on the outskirts of Middlesbrough, when she was hit by a Ford Focus driven by Harvey.

Tests showed that Harvey, who did not brake, was driving at not less than 51mph in a 30mph zone.

Following the crash, the car hit a kerb and careered over a grass verge, before speeding off and cutting up other traffic.

He then abandoned the car and ran off with his son.

Mr West said: "He left her dying in the road. Despite the best efforts of a passing district nurse, she died in hospital of her injuries."

Harvey, who had borrowed the car from a friend, then tried to cover his tracks.

"Aaron described him putting his clothes in a washing machine and also attempting to change his appearance by dying his hair blond," said Mr West.

Police caught up with Harvey hiding under a van near his mother's house.

He was arrested and would not co-operate, telling police to shoot him, said Mr West.

When interviewed, he lied by telling police the women had ran out in front of a bus, and also claimed he had swerved to avoid them.

He had been driving for 15 years but had never passed a driving test or taken lessons, the court was told.

As well as being jailed for dangerous driving, Harvey had a string of related motoring convictions, including 12 offences of taking a car without consent.

Harvey denied he had taken drugs on the day of the accident, but admitted he had probably used crack cocaine the day before.

Christine Egerton, for Harvey, said he now accepted responsibility for what had happened.

She said he had driven off in a panic, adding: "The distress he feels at causing Ms Smith to lose her life is palpable."

Harvey, 34, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to stop and report an accident.

No evidence was offered on charges of aggravated vehicle taking and failing to provide a drugs sample, both of which Harvey denied.

Jailing Harvey for eight years and banning him from driving for 15 years, Judge Michael Taylor said he had been a menace on the roads and, despite being a regular drug user, was prepared to drive on a daily basis.

He said: "What happened was an inevitable consequence of your arrogance and disregard to matters.

"If you had been taking the slightest attention to what was going on you could have taken avoiding action, but you did not."

Miss Smith, who lived with her boyfriend, Steve Forth, in Enderby Gardens, Hemlington, was said to be an attractive, intelligent woman and had carried out charity work for Romanian Aid.

Members of her family said in a statement: "Harvey may have got eight years, but we are serving a life sentence.

"Nothing can bring Beverley back.

They added: "We have to live with her loss every day and we pray that no one else has to endure the heartache and misery that we are suffering."

Inspector Steve Lawson, head of Cleveland Police's road policing unit, said: "Beverley was a young woman with the whole of her life ahead of her, and that has been taken away by the callous and cold-hearted actions of this man.

"Our thoughts are with her family."

* The Home Office plans to increase the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving from ten to 14 years.

It follows a public outcry over the death of six year-old Rebecca Sawyer in a hit-and-run accident in Blyth, Northumberland, on New Year's Eve 2002