A man killed a grandmother-of-five after reversing his van into her as she was crossing the road, a court has heard. After realising he had hit the woman, he ran out of his van and could be heard saying: "Oh my God, I didn't see her."
Collision in Church Street
The court heard Jordan Reames-Williams, 33, accepts he caused the death of Kim Blake, also known as Kim Haile, 65, as a result of a collision in Church Street, Blaina, on January 18 last year. But he is on trial as he denies a charge of causing death by careless driving.
Ms Blake suffered a number of non-life-threatening injuries after being hit by the defendant but died in an ambulance after suffering a cardiac arrest.
A trial at Newport Crown Court on Monday heard Ms Blake was seen on CCTV walking up some steps towards Church Street where the defendant was parked in his Ford Transit.
Sequence of events
Ms Blake got to the top steps and turned left, continuing to walk on the pavement, but she moved into the road to step around a blue MG vehicle which was blocking her way.
Reames-Williams, a rugby player for Newbridge RFC, reversed his van briefly before moving forwards again. Ms Blake then appeared to cross Church Street, taking a diagonal path and walking parallel with the road.
The defendant reversed a second time, initially at an angle before straightening up and travelling the same direction as Ms Blake was walking. She was struck to the back and knocked to the floor before Reames-Williams began moving forwards again.
Prosecution case
Prosecutor Andrew Kendall said: "It's clear he didn't appreciate what had happened at first. He stopped his vehicle and began driving forwards in the opposite direction."
"He looked in his nearside wing mirror, trying to see what he had hit. It's clear he then sees Ms Blake in his wing mirror and acts shocked, getting out of the van and running back to where she was lying in the road."
Members of the public, police, and paramedics attended the scene and did their best to help Ms Blake, who was initially conscious and had suffered injuries believed to be a dislocated hip, cuts to the back of her head, and tenderness to her spine and neck.
The injuries were not thought to be life-threatening but Ms Blake suffered a cardiac arrest and died in an ambulance at the scene. Reames-Williams was clearly distressed at the scene of the collision and could be heard saying: "Oh my God, I didn't see her."
Defendant's account
He was tested for drugs and alcohol by police at the scene but provided negative results. In a prepared statement given to police the defendant said he was on his way to Newbridge in order to travel to Neath to play a game of rugby.
He said he was reversing his van to turn the vehicle around and didn't see Ms Blake as she was crossing the road behind him. The defendant heard a "thud" but initially thought it was a traffic cone before he discovered it was a person.
Mr Kendall said: "[Reames-Williams] said he wasn't aware of Ms Blake at any point before the collision. The prosecution say if that's true then he couldn't have been looking in his offside mirror during the six seconds she was on the pavement or 0.9 seconds after she stepped into the road before he started reversing that second time."
"The prosecution say Mr Reames-Williams' decision to reverse up Church Street was careless. He was driving a big works van and the only way he could see behind him was by using his wing mirror and could only look at one of those at a time. There was absolutely no need for him to reverse up Church Street in the way he did."
Reames-Williams, of Church Street, Blaina, denies one count of causing death by careless driving. The trial continues.
