Heartbreaking CCTV footage shows how disabled man froze to death after being robbed of mobility scooter

Heartbreaking footage shows the moment when Kimberley Ann Hawkins, 41, stole a mobility scooter from a disabled man and left him abandoned in the street in sub-zero temperatures.

Victim died from pneumonia

Neil Shadwick, 63, was left for three hours in the cold and was suffering from severe hypothermia by the time he was discovered at around 5.45am on 22 January last year. He died in hospital later that day from pneumonia. Hawkins was jailed for six years after previously pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Gloucestershire Police have now released footage showing Hawkins taking Mr Shadwick to a cash point. Video also shows the moment she rides off in his scooter and when she is later arrested.

He had severe Parkinson’s disease

Mr Shadwick had limited mobility due to living with severe Parkinson’s, and relied on his mobility scooter to get around. The court heard how in the early hours of the morning Hawkins had been to Mr Shadwick's home and they left together on his mobility scooter. At around 2.30am they travelled to two different cashpoints, and the court heard how Hawkins was "frustrated" when Mr Shadwick was unable to withdraw any cash.

He was dragged along the road

While he was trying to withdraw cash and using his mobility scooter to prop himself up, Hawkins got onto the scooter and rode away. Mr Shadwick held on and she dragged him along the road for 57 seconds. When he let go, she continued to ride away without looking back.

The court was told how Mr Shadwick had no phone and would not have had the ability to seek shelter. The incident happened near to Tesco on Stratford Road in Stroud, Glos., and he was discovered by staff who had arrived for work at around 5.45am.

Terrified and abandoned

One of Mr Shadwick's two daughters read a statement to the court via video link. She said: "He must have been terrified realising that he'd been abandoned and not knowing when or if help would arrive." She added how Hawkins "did not even look back" after riding away on the mobility scooter.

The court was told that at the time of the offences Hawkins lived in a tent in a church yard and she relied on cash to fund her drug addiction. She had been to Mr Shadwick's home on several occasions in the months leading up to his death. Agencies deemed him as being at risk of exploitation, and he lived in supported accommodation and required carers who visited his home four times a day.

Drug addiction

In mitigation the court was told that Hawkins regrets her actions, that she accepts her actions resulted in Mr Shadwick's death, and that she is sorry for this. It was heard that she used drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism to block out previous trauma.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Adam Stacey, from Gloucestershire Constabulary's Major Crime Investigation Team, said: "The footage from the early hours of that morning is heart breaking to watch, as Neil was abandoned in sub-zero temperatures in the street without his mobility scooter and therefore unable to seek shelter or help.”