THE heartbroken mother and brother of a man killed by a hit and run driver in Stretford have launched a fresh appeal to find the person responsible for his death.

On the eve of John Ryan's 29th birthday, which would have been on Saturday, August 23, Ann and Steve Ryan, of Ponsonby Avenue, asked the public for information about his death.

John was found dead on Kingsway, Stretford, at around 1.30am on Saturday, April 12.

On the evening John died he was wearing a jacket and trousers in camouflage print, with a black t-shirt underneath his jacket, a beige scarf and black shoes.

A post mortem examination revealed his injuries were consistent with being in collision with a vehicle.

Ann, 56, and husband Steve, 58, who works in Saudi Arabia as an engineer, are due to celebrate their 31st wedding anniversary next Wednesday, August 27.

Interview: Son Steve said: “The past few months have been extremely difficult, not knowing what has happened to John, his final hours, is very difficult for the family and friends to bear with.

Ann said: “Somebody out there is responsible for the death of our son and I would very much like them to come forward. It’s a living nightmare because every day you’re hoping something is going to turn up, someone’s going to come forward but unfortunately we’ve not been that lucky.”

Steve said: “As a brother John was always there to loook out for me. I spent the past two-and-a-half years living in London and even though John lived in Denmark, he was always emailing and making phone calls. He was a very loving, caring sort of person. He was absolutely the life and soul of the party, the kind of bloke you’d like to be around, and it made me proud to be his brother.”

Ann said: “He had time for everybody, whether it was a small child or an elderly person, he’d want to talk to them and he was always interested in people.”

She added: “Given John would have been 29 tomorrow and it’s our wedding anniversary next week it’s such a loss that the star of the show isn’t going to be here and it won’t be quite the same without him because he was always the life and soul of the party. He enjoyed himself, he had become quite caring as he grew older, 29 and he was growing up and was good fun.”

“With so little information about the accident it’s been so difficult. If somebody could come up with something, no matter how trivial. “Someone must have seen something, after something like that happened. The windscreen or the car would have been damaged and surely somebody noticed it while it was driving along the road. If they arrived home with a damaged windscreen, did a family member or a neighbour see anything?”

Steve said: “One thing we’d really like to get out is that the vehicle would have been badly damaged regardless of what make it was.

“There’s also the matter of the taxi driver who dropped John off outside Stretford Arndale. There are lights and it’s a major crossroad so why would the taxi driver have allowed him to get out on a major road and I suppose as he was making his way across the road that’s when it happened. So what we’d really like is to get in touch with the taxi driver because he will know John’s state of mind at the time. We really don’t know, we’re going to find it very difficult to close the book. We want to, we just want to have some answers.”

Ann: “We’d like answers, at the moment we’ve got nothing. There’s nothing to go on.

Steve said: “But I know the police are doing their best and what they can but if they’re not given the information how can they do their job?”

Ann added: “If you were a passenger in that car can you find it in your hearts to come forward. Maybe these people were out in a pub and talking and they might have heard something. If they could come forward any little bit of information would make us so grateful.

“I don’t know how anyone with any information could live with themselves. Nineteen weeks has gone by and they’re weak and they’re cowards. They might be tough along with their friends but as an individual they’re just weak cowards.

Steve said: “What I’d say to the driver is that they’ve had more than four months now to think about what they’ve done and there may be other factors involved with what happened that night but it must be resting on their conscience. They would have known they’d hit someone.”

Ann said: “I can’t find the words to explain our loss and how the person responsible can live with themselves for what they’ve done. They’ve got to go through their life knowing what they’ve done.

Steve said: “John’s friends have provided fantastic support to all the family. Everyone has come forward and passed on their condolences and it has been fantastic.

Ann added: “An they’re still in touch with us after all this time and their support is just wonderful.

Steve: “We’d like to pass our thanks to he people that actually found John. We’re so grateful to them. We’ve no idea who that person is. Apparently there were two people involved in finding him and they did all they could. I know what I would be like on my way home after a few drinks to see someone in that state and being the only person who could help out. I wouldn’t have known what to do.”

Ann said: “It must have been so difficult for them to come to the assistance of someone.

Steve said: “I’m sure John’s friend Carl said it was a black cab. He put John in a black cab at the Moss Trooper. The taxi driver has not come forward for whatever reason, I’ve no idea, but we would like to appeal for them as well. We’d really like to know what his final journey was.

“I was first made aware of what had happened the next day at around 9pm. I was going to meet John’s best friend Chris for drinks in town. I had to stop by work and I was actually in the office. I first heard of it on the radio that someone had been hit in Stretford, I don’t know what it was but I immediately wondered if John was ok because I hadn’t heard from him, so really I heard it on the radio. Part of me thought it wasn’t him but the majority said it was, especially when we got CID calling us. Finding out wasn’t the easiest thing to do.

“So we were going out, we were going to Manchester, his best friend Chris was there and we would have thought John could have turned up. By that time there was no chance at all.”

Steve said: “One of John’s sayings was “you ain’t seen nothin like me yet” and another was “it’s just a sign of the times” and he’d come out with little one liners, usually quoting Bryan Ferry songs because he was a massive fan. I’ve lost and couldn’t have wished for a better brother and his freinds would say the same. He was a best mate to everyone.”

Detective Constable Simon Johnson of Stretford CID said: “Answers are what we need, answers from the person who was driving the vehicle that night, his of her family and friends. We need to know the vehicle and where it is now. The vehicle had windscreen damage we know that. We need to know where that vehilce is, who repaired it. Anybody with any information that might help, we need to speak to those people.

“If somebody wants to give us information they don’t have to speak with an officer directly, they can ring Crimestoppers anonymously because that’s what it’s there for. It’s there for anonymous information for those who don’t want to get involved but have got it in their heart to ring the police and get the information across without giving their details.

“I’d say to the driver you’ve had four months now. I’m sure it’s not easy to live with, I’m sure it’s a burden that that person bears. Come in and speak to the police. I may be that John Ryan wasn’t killed intentionally that night. It may have been a total accident but until we speak to that driver we can’t take that position.

“It could well be that the driver was just driving to wherever they were going to and John stepped out into the road. We know John had had a drink that evening. He was walking home and that’s when he was struck in the road on Kingsway. It could well be that John had walked out in front of that vehicle. It was one of the worst nights of the year, it was heavily raining and John was wearing camouflage, which would have been hard to see I realise that.

“When you look at the family you know they are decent people and you really want to try your best for them and we’re working night and day to try and find who the driver of this vehicle is.”

Anyone with information should contact Stretford CID on 0161 856 8314 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.