A DRINK and drugged-up van driver mounted a pavement, struck and seriously injured an eight-year-old girl and her grandmother before speeding away.

Double the drink-drive limit and after taking cocaine, Christopher Godwin, 35, struck young Mariah Mabey with his flatbed van, leaving her with serious injuries.

He also hit the girl’s grandmother, Michelle Hiscock, knocking her unconscious.

Godwin, a builder by trade, then fled the scene, speeding through a red light as he made his escape.

He later arrived at a friend’s house claiming he had argued with his wife, before police arrived to arrest him.

When tested by officers he was found to be double the drink-drive limit and seven times the legal limit for cocaine.

Yesterday, at Southampton Crown Court, Godwin was jailed for 28 months.

Prosecutor Isabel Delamere told the court how the incident happened on Bath Road, Bitterne, on May 25.

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She said how Mariah, who can be named after the Daily Echo successfully appealed a court order, was on a pushbike on the pavement with her grandmother, Ms Hiscock, as they walked their dog.

Ms Delamare said Godwin’s Ford Transit flatbed van was seen to mount the pavement and strike Mariah and Ms Hiscock.

The court heard how a witness saw the truck speed away through a red traffic light, narrowly avoiding a crash in the process.

Police and paramedics arrived at the scene and both Mariah and Ms Hiscock were taken to hospital.

Mariah, who attends Weston Park Primary School, suffered a broken elbow, skin injuries to her left arm and a laceration to her thigh – which will leave a large scar.

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Ms Hiscock suffered bruising to her left side.

Godwin was arrested three hours later at a friend’s home.

Mitigating for Godwin, Mark Florida-James said his client had become anxious and depressed while unsuccessfully attempting to start his own building firm.

He said Godwin, who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, drink-driving, drug driving and failing to stop at the scene of a crash, had used alcohol and cocaine to “self-medicate” for his stress.

In sentencing, Judge Peter Henry said: “People with problems such as yours still owe society a responsibility and you could so easily have killed both those people.

“You were in drink at the time, two times the legal limit, and you had in your system cocaine that was seven times over the limit.

“It must have been obvious that you had hit somebody, but you drove off.”

Godwin, of Alpine Close, Southampton was jailed for 28 months and banned from driving for four years after his release.