'˜Misguided' dad jailed after trying to take blame for hit-and-run in which a man died

And at Warwick Crown Court Noah Fury, who was said to have acted out of ‘misguided parental love,’ was jailed for six months and banned from driving for two years.

Fury, 52, of Shilton Lane, Shilton, at the time, had pleaded guilty to doing acts intended to pervert the course of justice following the fatal collision in April last year.

Earlier this year his son Matthew Fury, 21, also of Shilton Lane at the time, was jailed for two years for causing the death of 39-year-old father-of-three Leonard Gaskin.

Prosecutor Sharon Bahia said Mr Gaskin had been holding a torch as he was jogging along Coventry Road, Bulkington, at 9.45pm when he was hit by a BMW driven by Matthew Fury, who was on his phone to his girlfriend at the time.

“Matthew Fury returned home and spoke to his father and mother, and remained there while the defendant and his wife returned to the scene,” said Miss Bahia.

When police approached Fury at the scene, he said he had driven.

“He was distressed. The deceased and he had been living on the same site for some 30 years,” said Miss Bahia.

He was arrested but police were suspicious and later arrested Matthew. Both, separately, subsequently told what had happened.

Tim Sapwell, defending, said Fury had asked him to say: “We’ve known these people for 30 years as friends and neighbours, and we want them to know how sorry we are. I was not thinking straight when I spoke to the police at the scene. I am very sorry.”

Mr Sapwell added: “His intention to commit the offence was formed in an instant in response to a direct question. His motive was misguided parental love.

“He has uprooted his entire family and moved from the Coventry area, where they had lived for 32 years, because he was acutely aware of the need to give space to the Gaskin family.”

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC told Fury it was a serious offence of perverting the course of justice and though acting out of panic, he should have stopped it sooner.

He acknowledged Fury’s remorse and the decision to move away but said there had to be a custodial sentence.