Driver, 85, escapes jail over death of cyclist on A55 in North Wales (crash occurred 11/4/11)

An 85-year-old who ploughed into five charity cyclists – killing one and seriously injuring another – drove on for three miles despite “significant” damage to his car.

Huw Edwards had seemed oblivious to the collision and had to be told by his wife Mabel in the passenger seat that there had been an accident, Llandudno magistrates heard yesterday.

Banking consultant Gareth Crockett, 27, was killed during the leukaemia charity cycle ride, which happened in broad daylight on the A55 near Rhostrehwfa, Llangefni on April 13.

Edwards, of Salem Street in Bryngwran, Anglesey, admitted causing death by driving without due care and attention and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for six months. He was also banned from driving for 10 years.

The court heard he had suffered a deterioration in his health in the months beforehand.

Prosecutor Nia Lloyd said the cyclists had been riding from Holyhead to Welshpool. At 10.15am Edwards was taking his wife, a cancer patient, in their Vauxhall Corsa to an 11am appointment at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor.

Edwards came up behind the cyclists, failed to see them and drove into the back of them. There was “no braking and no skid marks”.

Ms Lloyd said Mr Crockett was killed and another cyclist sustained a compound fracture and other minor injuries. In a family statement, County Antrim-born Mr Crockett’s sister Alison said: “Our lives have been devastated by one moment of bad driving.”

Edwards was “genuinely remorseful”, said his solicitor Gareth Parry. Between February and July this year his client, who was 84 at the time of the smash, had suffered a sudden deterioration in his concentration, his eyesight worsened and his diabetes became poorly controlled. Edwards’ wife Mabel died this summer.

District Judge Andrew Shaw said: “It was a very serious act of carelessness.” He was “mystified” why he drove on afterwards. He said the cyclists were wearing conspicuous clothing and Edwards had the opportunity to see them from a considerable distance.

He added: “This is a terribly tragic case. Gareth Crockett was a young man from a close family.”

• UPDATE 8/12/11

A coroner says elderly people “who really shouldn’t be driving” are a problem after a management consultant was killed on a charity ride.

Huw Edwards, 85, crashed into a group of cyclists but carried on driving “as if nothing had happened”, an inquest heard.

The pensioner told the hearing: “I’ve no idea what happened.”

The coroner said he often had to deal with deaths caused by old people “who really shouldn’t be driving” and said: “Elderly people causing accidents is also a problem.”

Gareth Crockett, 27, of Moira, Northern Ireland, was killed while trying with friends to raise £10,000 for leukaemia research after the death of a neighbour. Brightly dressed, they were riding 450 miles and running four marathons in Belfast, Dublin, Bristol and London.

Days before the tragedy, former Labour government spin doctor Alastair Campbell had highlighted the charity challenge on his blog.

But as the cyclists rode from Holyhead to Welshpool on the A55 dual carriageway in Anglesey, the group was hit by the car driven by Mr Edwards.

Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones at Caernarfon recorded a narrative verdict.

He said: “Mr Edwards should have seen the cyclists. This was a death that was entirely avoidable and I therefore consider it wrong to dismiss this as yet another accidental death.”

The coroner recorded that Mr Crockett died “having as a cyclist been struck from behind from the car driven in an inconsiderate manner by an elderly gentleman whose driving abilities are questionable”.

Mr Pritchard-Jones added: “In that way I reflect what happened.

“I would raise one issue without providing any answers. I often have cases of young people causing accidents on the roads. You have young people being responsible for driving in a fast and inconsiderate manner.

“But at the other extreme I also have fatalities arising from elderly people who really shouldn’t be driving and this is a difficult question of how do you deal with these cases. I leave it to others to answer that. But elderly people causing accidents is also a problem.”

Mr Edwards, of Bryngwran, near Holyhead, was last month given a six-month suspended prison sentence and banned from driving for 10 years, with a six months supervision order, after he admitted causing death by careless driving at Rhostrehwfa, Anglesey in April.

The diabetic’s late wife Mabel in a statement said after their Vauxhall Corsa had collided with cyclists he carried on “as if nothing had happened”.

A little later she told him to pull into a lay-by.

But the inquest heard the car’s windscreen was badly damaged. The coroner said: “There was quite considerable damage to the car. Surely a person driving a car suffering that much damage would have been aware of the collision or something had occurred?”

Police vehicle examiner Kenneth Stone replied: “I couldn’t drive it, it was so obvious. You couldn’t drive it normally.”

A second cyclist had a broken ankle, the inquest heard.

Pc George Skinner said Mr Edwards’ GP felt his driving shouldn’t have been impaired by his diabetes that morning.

Mr Edwards told the inquest: “I have no idea what happened. I’m very sorry – I wish I could turn the clock back.”

The coroner said: “Mr Edwards had at least 1,000 metres of clear visibility ahead of him and he should have seen the brightly coloured tops of the cyclists. Traffic was light and he should have been able to see the cyclists and overtake them in a safe manner.”