Cocaine dealer Cole Tresidder who killed Josh Ashworth, from Bottesford but living in Grantham, on A52, refuses to leave prison for Proceeds of Crime Act hearing

A cocaine dealer jailed for over seven years after causing the hit and run death of a man has refused to leave prison to attend his Proceeds of Crime hearing.

Josh Ashworth, 22, was walking home along the A52, just outside Grantham, at around 9.30pm when he was hit by a BMW being driven by disqualified driver Cole Tresidder, also 22.

At the time of the collision on April 22 last year Tresidder was banned from driving after being convicted of driving without due care and attention on 8 December, 2021, when he crashed into parked cars in Norton Street, Grantham.

On that occasion Tresidder was also found to be in possession of 39 wraps of cocaine valued at up to £1,560 and over £1,000 in cash after trying to speed away from a police car.

Tresidder, from Leicester, was jailed for seven years and two months and banned from driving for 77 months in March.

However a Proceeds of Crime hearing to determine how Tresidder had benefitted financially from his crimes and to confiscate his available assets was adjourned for further investigations.

A Proceeds of Crime hearing at Lincoln Crown Court was today (Thursday) told Tresidder had refused to leave prison to attend court.

Recorder Graham Huston adjourned the case until August 24 when the defendant and his defence solicitors will have to attend.

Josh lived in Grantham, but was a long-time resident of Bottesford.

Tresidder's sentence hearing was told Josh had been in contact with his family on his iPhone during the evening of the collision and when he failed to return home the next morning they began a search.

Steven Gosnell, prosecuting, said Josh's family and friends went to the location on the A52 after his iPhone showed it was stationary at the scene near Somerby Hill.

Tragically, Josh was found lying face down in a ditch by his own mother, Rachael, just after 7am, Mr Gosnell told the court.

The court heard Tresidder had fled the scene and failed to report the collision despite the damage to the BMW which he had abandoned nearby.

Shortly before the collision Tresidder was seen by another vehicle whose occupants considered he was driving in excess of the speed limit, Mr Gosnell said.

Lincolnshire Police collision investigator PC Godfrey Barlow also concluded Tresidder was driving above 60mph when he hit Josh, who was walking in the same direction towards Grantham.

The court heard Tresidder handed himself into a local police station at around midday on April 23, 2022, after reading reports of a road fatality on social media.

Tresidder failed to provide a specimen to officers and said he did not report the collision because he was a banned driver and had no insurance. He said he did not know that he had hit a pedestrian, and thought it was possibly a deer.

The court heard Tresidder had phoned a vehicle recovery company to get the BMW at 9.37pm on April 22.

In a moving victim impact statement which she read out during the sentence hearing, Josh's mother, Rachael Ashworth, described the horror of going to look for her son and finding him dead.

Mrs Ashworth turned to Tresidder and said: "Why would anyone leave this beautiful human being on the side of the road?"

She added: "I could have been spared finding my son with those horrific injuries."

The court heard Josh died instantly after suffering a fractured skull but it took some time for his family to learn if he had been alive for a period after the collision.

Mrs Ashworth added: "That haunted me for days and days until it was found Josh died instantly."

She described Josh as her "beautiful, complex and loving son," adding: "My life as I knew it ended on Saturday 23 April."

Josh's father, Simon Ashworth, added: "I have such sadness I was not there to help my little boy."

Mr Ashworth added: "Josh would do anything to help anyone. The hole he has left in our lives is immeasurable."

Other moving statements were also read out by Josh's best friend, his Godmother, his cousin and his older sister who said: "The loss of my brother is something I will never be able to put into words."

Tresidder, of Springfield Road, Leicester, admitted a charge of causing death by careless driving and failing to provide a specimen.

He also pleaded guilty to driving a black BMW while disqualified and having no insurance when the collision occurred on the A52 at Somerby Hill, Grantham, on April 22 last year.

He also admitted possessing cocaine and with intent to supply on December 8, 2021.