A man who knocked a pedestrian unconscious with his electric motorbike and left him lying in the road has avoided an immediate jail term. Jordan Willetts, 35, was riding on the wrong side of Fairoak Avenue, Newport, on the evening of November 11 last year when he collided with Sam Bevan, who was crossing the road.
Victim left unconscious in the road
Newport magistrates' court heard that Mr Bevan had just shut the boot of his car and was about to enter his house. He looked to check the road was clear before stepping out to cross. Willetts then rode onto the one-way street at speed and in the wrong direction, having moments earlier travelled the wrong way on a roundabout.
After stepping onto the road, Mr Bevan was knocked to the ground where he lay prone and unconscious. Willetts also fell but, according to prosecutor Jemma Guy, he “simply got up, looked at the victim lying in the road, and then rode off”.
Due to his head injury, Mr Bevan had no memory of the collision. The next thing he remembered was waking up in the Grange hospital with his mother. The court heard he was unable to drive for six months because he had lost consciousness for around 10 minutes.
Willetts confesses after CCTV emerges
Two days after the collision, Mr Bevan was visited by “two unknown persons” who informed him what had happened, said the prosecutor, who added that a neighbour also provided CCTV footage of the hit-and-run. The following day, Willetts attended Maindee police station to confess. He admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident, and driving without a motorcycle licence. A licence is required for an electric bike if it is rated more than 250W or has an assisted speed higher than 15.5mph.
Paul Morris, mitigating, said: “The footage is quite difficult to watch. The victim is knocked clean unconscious by the collision. I think it's quite clear a lot of people who have these electric bikes don't see them as mechanically propelled vehicles, but they clearly are and should be driven in the appropriate manner. There is nothing previous on my client's record; he had never troubled the police in his entire life. This is not his usual behaviour. He was moving his bike from one location to another, it was evening, the roads were quiet, and to all intents and purposes he treated the bike as a pedal cycle.”
Morris added that the collision shocked Willetts “quite a lot” and that he thought someone was knocking him off and trying to steal his bike. At this point District Judge Sophie Toms interjected: “I don't accept that. He looked at him on the ground and left him for dead. He could have been dead.”
Judge rejects claim of mistaken robbery
Mr Morris said his client returned to the scene later that evening but by then Mr Bevan had been taken to hospital. Willetts, of Church Road in Newport, walked into the police station of his own volition because he knew it was the right thing to do, said the solicitor. “He has a close and supportive family who are shocked and appalled by what happened. They will make sure he gets through this.”
The solicitor said Willetts works as a driver for his family's business, doing “collections”, and that losing his driving licence will have “consequences” for his work. Handing down the sentence, Judge Toms said: “I find you deliberately chose to ignore the rules of the road and disregarded the risk of danger to others. You were not paying attention to what was happening around you. These vehicles are often very silent, you had no lights on, and there was a collision. I've heard mitigation about your panic, but what I've seen is you left a man in the road with a head injury.”
The judge added that Willetts was fortunate not to have been charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, which could have seen him jailed for years. Judge Toms said the sentencing guidelines dictated she could not impose an immediate jail term. She instead sentenced Willetts to 12 months in prison suspended for 12 months, with 150 hours of unpaid work, a three-month curfew from 8pm to 5am, and a 30-month driving ban.
Willetts must also pay £1,000 in compensation to the victim, a £187 victim services surcharge, and £85 in prosecution costs. The penalties will be paid at a rate of £100 per month.
