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A man who struck a pedestrian with an electric motorbike, rendering the victim unconscious before fleeing the scene, has received a suspended prison sentence of 12 months. Jordan Willetts, hailing from Newport, admitted to charges including dangerous driving, driving without a license, and failing to stop after a crash that occurred in Newport last November. At the time of the incident, he was travelling against the direction of a one-way street.
Two days following the collision, Willetts surrendered himself to the police. The victim, 33-year-old Sam Bevan from the St Julian’s area of Newport, told BBC Wales he has no memory of the accident. The extent of what had happened only became clear after a neighbor showed him harrowing CCTV footage capturing the incident. On the day of the crash, Bevan was at the boot of his car parked on Fairoak Avenue, where he crossed the one-way street while carefully observing traffic in the correct direction. His next memory was from the Grange Hospital in Cwmbran, where he was undergoing scans and treatment for cuts and bruises to his face.
At Newport Magistrates’ Court, it was revealed that Willetts faced a driving ban of two years and six months and must pass an extended driving test to regain his license. Investigations uncovered that the electric motorbike Willetts was riding had been illegally modified from a push bike. Despite Willetts’ defense attorney, Paul Morris, arguing that Willetts, aged 35, had no prior convictions and that a driving ban would adversely impact his work in the family delivery business, District Judge Sophie Toms dismissed this defense. The judge criticized Willetts for intentionally disregarding traffic rules and performing a dangerous maneuver by riding the wrong way around a roundabout.
Judge Toms emphasized the severity of Willetts leaving the injured Bevan unattended at the scene, stating that this was an aggravating factor given the potential seriousness of Bevan’s head injury. Willetts was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and comply with an electronically monitored curfew, requiring him to remain home between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Additional penalties included a £1,000 compensation payment, £85 court costs, and a £187 victim surcharge. When the driving ban was announced, Willetts visibly shook his head. In a previous statement to the BBC, Willetts’ father described the incident as a “mistake,” while Willetts himself asserted, “Of course I’m sorry. Why would I have handed myself in if I wasn’t sorry?”
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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