Drink-driver fled the scene
A DRINK-DRIVER climbed out of his car window and ran away after a late-night crash near Maesteg that killed his friend and injured his dad.
A DRINK-DRIVER climbed out of his car window and ran away after a late-night crash that killed his friend and injured his dad.
Nicholas Darkes, 26, was two and a half times over the legal limit when he lost control of his car near Maesteg after drinking at a hotel.
Prosecutors said he had been drinking at the Station Hotel in Caerau on January 10 with his father Neil Darkes and friend Adam McGuire from about 6.30pm.
A barman said Darkes, from Port Talbot, had been drinking cider.
The court heard they left at about 10.30pm and got into a Ford Focus with the defendant driving, his friend in the front passenger seat, and his dad in the back.
Prosecutor David Pugh said the defendant had a provisional driving licence but no L plates and no-one supervising him.
He drove along Dyffryn Road towards Maesteg, where there is a 30mph speed limit in place.
Witness Mark Davies, who was driving in the opposite direction, saw the Ford Focus “swaying from side to side”, and estimated it was travelling “too fast” at about 50mph before Darkes “lose control” of his vehicle.
The court heard Darkes’ car collided with a parked Isuzu, before spinning into the other carriageway and colliding with Mr Davies’ Renault.
Mr Pugh said: “Adam McGuire suffered significant injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The defendant’s father was taken to hospital and treated for fractures to his neck and ribs.
Mr Davies, who suffered minor injuries, said he saw Darkes climbing out of the car window and said: “What are you doing? You can’t do a runner.”
Prosecutors said the defendant, who recognised him from the local area, replied: “I’ve got to, Mark.”
Another witness described hearing tyres “screech” and seeing the defendant climbing out of the window.
She said he looked “desperate to get away” and looked like he was trying to run but his legs were “wobbly”.
Prosecutors said Darkes ran to a friend’s house on Tudor Estate and changed his clothes.
She called Mr McGuire’s brother Ryan McGuire, who went to her house and found the defendant crying and saying: “I’ve crashed the car. My father and Adam are in the car. I had to run away.”
Mr McGuire told the police where the driver was and Darkes was arrested.
Darkes was given a breath test and found to have 84mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath – two and a half times the legal limit.
Prosecutors said he had been before the courts for five previous offences including drink-driving in 2007 and driving without a licence or insurance in 2013.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Ryan McGuire described the defendant as “a coward” for running away, leaving his father and friend injured at the scene.
He said: “Our family life as we knew it has been destroyed.”
Adam McGuire was 36 when he died and, in a family tribute given after the hearing, brothers Ryan and Stephen said the “loving son, brother and uncle” will be “greatly missed”.
Darkes, of Prescelly Road in Cymmer, Port Talbot, admitted causing death by driving without due care while over the prescribed limit.
Andrew Evans, defending, said: “In very clear and simple terms he wishes to apologise to everyone for the terrible decisions he made.”
Judge Eleri Rees said the defendant’s previous convictions showed “contempt” for road traffic laws.
She said: “No sentence passed by this court can ever adequately reflect the extent of [the family’s] loss and grief or give them comfort.”
Darkes was jailed for six years and disqualified from driving for nine years.
He will have to pass an extended re-test before being allowed behind the wheel again.