Cowboy roofer who ran over and killed woman on golf course jailed – as video shows police chase

A rogue roofer who ran over a mother-of-three on a golf course during a police chase has been jailed for 13-and-a-half years for her death.

John McDonald, 52, admitted to causing the death by dangerous driving after 62-year-old Suzanne Cherry was hit by a van that was being followed by police.

Ms Cherry had been playing golf with her husband at Aston Wood Golf Club in Shenstone, Staffordshire, when the incident took place on 11 April last year.

Handing sentence, Judge Burbidge said John McDonald’s actions were “wicked in the extreme,” and that while “it is clear that you did attempt to brake, but you had insufficient time to avoid her”.

“Clint Harrison saw you three run away from the vehicle,” the judge added. “He says the person who stepped out of the driving seat actually stepped over Sue.

“He says he saw, in a split second, the driver stutter and look back, but you didn’t stop, John, you sought to save your own skin.

“Even if you did something to avoid the collision, it was too little, too late.”

‘Everybody loved her’

Speaking after sentence was handed down, Ms Cherry’s husband Clint Harrison paid tribute to her as an “inspiration”.

Mr Harrison also said: “You really don’t know want to know what I think about the sentence. I have got no thoughts about them at all. I won’t give them any head space.”

He then added: “Everybody loved her. She was an inspiration. All the young ladies wanted to be like Suzanne Cherry because of what she achieved in her life.

“A company owner, advanced motorcyclist, cyclist, scuba diver, and anything else she could jump off or dive off.”

Mr Harrison previously said shortly after her death that she would be “painfully missed” by her family and friends.

“While enjoying what should have been the safest of one of Suzanne’s many activities, I watched in helpless horror as the life of my beautiful wife and our future together was snatched away in an instant,” he said.

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