Drink driving hoon Neville Russ jailed for hitting pedestrian and leaving her to die Police at the scene of the hit and run on Musgrave Road in September 2012. A REPEAT drink driver and hoon claims he fled the scene after mowing down a pedestrian so he could give his family a final hug before he was sent to jail. Neville James Russ was almost three times over the legal limit when he took off from traffic lights in his Holden Commodore sedan like a "drag racer," hitting a 24-year-old woman so hard she flew three metres into the air. The Brisbane District Court was told Russ did not stop to check on the welfare of his victim, fleeing the scene outside the Normanby Hotel as the woman lay close to death by the side of the road. Barrister Damian Walsh said his client, in a misguided act of family devotion, left the scene to spend time with his wife and three-year-old child in the belief he would be immediately sent to jail. He said Russ handed himself to police within 30 minutes of the incident in September 2012. Prosecutor Maita Aylward said witnesses reported hearing Russ' car "revving loudly as if to race" and believed he had treated the "congested (pub precinct) like a race track" . She said Russ, who had a previous conviction for drink driving, had accumulated previous convictions for speeding on nine occasions, many of them for speeds in excess of 20km/h over the speed limit. He was also ticketed for speeding only three weeks before the hit-and-run offence. The court was told Russ' female victim was lucky to be alive - the result of quick- thinking bystanders who rendered first aid at the scene. Ms Aylward said the woman, who was not named in court, later required "lifesaving" brain surgery. Her injuries included massive brain trauma and severe fractures to her right elbow and cheekbone, as well as serious bruising and lacerations over much of her body . She spent three days in intensive care and was at times considered unlikely to survive. Russ pleaded guilty to numerous offences including aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm. Other charges included driving under the influence of alcohol, failing to remain at the scene of a crash and contravening a police direction. Judge Terry Martin sentenced Russ to three years' jail, but ordered the term be suspended after 12 months. He was also disqualified from driving for three years.