A SOUTH Norwood man has been jailed for eight and a half years for killing PC Andrew Duncan in a hit and run.
At the hearing at Kingston Crown Court today, the prosecution outlined how Gary Cody, also known as Gary Bromige, had been speeding between 80 and 88mph in the half minute before the police officer was hit just after midnight on September 20 last year.
When Cody's car hit PC Duncan, the police officer was "thrown high into the air like a rag doll" and "catapulted 35 metres along the road", Jonathan Rees, prosecuting, told the court.
Although Cody, of Holland Road, slowed the car down after the collision, he quickly sped up again and drove off, abandoning the car 600 metres away, Mr Rees said.
Cody then rang his father in the early hours of that morning and told him: "I've done it this time, I've hit a copper." His father told Cody to hand himself in, which he did that afternoon.
The driver's defence, Michael Neofytou, asked the judge to take into account Cody's early guilty plea and genuine remorse over the incident.
However, Mr Rees told the court how Cody's prison warden had reported a "degree of satisfaction at his notoriety" in jail.
Cody was said to have boasted to his warden: "Do you know who I am? I am the one on the news who ran over the police officer. I am probably on telly all over the world."
Later, Cody was overheard saying to other inmates: "It's on YouTube - copper and brown bread. Me in the car, dead copper in the road."
In an impact statement read out in court, PC Duncan's wife Claire said: "Since September, our lives have changed completely and we are devastated.
"I have lost a husband and my children have lost a father - they are struggling every day.
"My daughter is so upset that her dad had so much more to teach her and my son has said he does not want to drive any longer without him."
Mrs Duncan added: "As a couple, we had so much to do. Our plans for our house, travelling and retirement are now things I have to face alone.
"He was my world, we are truly devastated."
In his police interview, Cody told officers PC Duncan had "jumped" out in front of him. When he swerved, the policeman then "dived" in front of his car.
However, Mr Rees told the court that this account had been utterly disproved by the footage held by cameras on both the front and back of the police car.
PC Duncan's pathologist reported that he had been struck face on by the speeding car, which had hit him at between 50 and 58mph.
He died of chronic brain, neck, chest and pelvic injuries where his body had hit the car bonnet.
Mr Rees also said Cody's car was so damaged, the windscreen was entirely opaque from the cracked glass.
The judge, His Honour Nicholas Price QC, said Cody's actions had been "appalling" in what was a "desperately tragic case".
"Your short life could not be more starkly different from PC Duncan's," he told Cody.
While Cody has been convicted 35 times for 88 offences, many relating to driving and resulting in custodial sentences, PC Duncan " was 47 when he died and had been a police officer since 1990.
"He had experience and expertise and was simply doing his duty when your vehicle struck him," he said.
"Society has been robbed of a man in the prime of his life with so much to offer because of your actions."
The judge gave Cody, who he said had a "borderline personality disorder", a history of drug abuse and a "troubled and inadequate family background", eight and a half years in jail and disqualified him from driving for six.
