Hit and run driver left teen for dead after boozy bash with Geoff Boycott
He fled 130 miles... and was turned in by his ex-wife
A BUSINESS chief fled 130 miles after leaving a teenage cyclist for dead in a hit and run following a boozy party with former England cricketer Geoffrey Boycott.
Owen Finn, 64, left Kiernan Roberts sprawled in the road with a broken neck and serious head injuries after striking him from behind in his Mercedes last October.
The ‘cowardly’ businessman was twice the legal driving limit when he hit 16-year-old Kiernan as the schoolboy cycled home from his part-time job as a waiter.
Finn was only caught when he was turned in by his ex-wife, who saw the news of the hit and run crash and grew suspicious.
Kiernan, a ‘ star’ sixth- form pupil, had life-saving surgery after the crash and remains in hospital nine months on.
His father, who had been walking beside him on the footpath minutes earlier, was one of the first on the scene and was confronted by the sight of his son being treated in the road by a paramedic.
Finn, a twice-married father-ofthree, was president of Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce at the time and was returning from a chamber function attended by Boycott and ex-Conservative Party leader Michael Howard.
John Thackray, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court that witnesses described him as ‘drunk, wobbly, and with altered speech’. Another said he ‘couldn’t stand up without holding on to the back of a chair’, but after the event he still chose to drive home. The accident happened in Elloughton, East Yorkshire, as Kiernan, from Hull, was on his way home from his parttime job at a nearby restaurant.
The collision left debris strewn across the road. Another driver who came across the scene minutes later with his wife stopped to give assistance to the teenager.
Kiernan’s father had met him at the restaurant at 11pm. Mr Thackray said: ‘Kiernan was pushing his cycle with the lights illuminated.
‘They were walking together on a footpath towards home. Shortly after the junction, Kiernan asked to cycle the remainder of the journey. His father agreed.
‘The windscreen of Finn’s Mercedes was smashed on the passenger side. He later told police he thought his car had been “hit by a brick from the A63”.’
Kiernan was an experienced and careful cyclist who was familiar with local roads, and had recently upgraded his front and rear lights to improve his visibility to other road users, the court heard. After the crash, Finn changed his clothes at his former wife Hilary’s home, near Brantingham, East Yorkshire, before continuing on for 130 miles to his mother’s house in Birmingham.
His ex-wife became suspicious when the next morning she saw that his bed had not been slept in and his car was gone. After hearing about the hit and run, the mother-of-two contacted police.
Finn’s barrister, Gary Bell, QC, admitted his client had behaved with ‘cowardice’.
Finn, from Hall Green, Birmingham, admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident, failing to report an accident, and drink-driving. He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on Friday.