Car ploughed into takeaway after 80mph police chase
BANNED DRIVER JAILED FOR SMASHING INTO SHOP LEAVING CUSTOMERS FLEEING IN TERROR
A DISQUALIFIED driver left a mother believing she was going to die after ploughing into a popular Chinese takeaway on a Friday night, a court has heard.
Horrifying footage shows the moment Lewis Cadogan, 31, smashes through the window of the Man Po takeaway after a 80mph police chase in Ely, Cardiff.
On Friday, Newport Crown Court heard the spice and crack cocaine user had been driving his former partner’s Vauxhall Astra after she gave him the keys to get the tyres changed on June 8, 2018.
But Cadogan failed to pull over when spotted by police on Grand Avenue, and led a high-speed pursuit overtaking stationary cars at traffic lights before hitting the establishment on the opposite site of the carriageway.
The court heard takeaway customer Gemma Richards had been ordering food on her daughter’s birthday when the car smashed through the takeaway window on Cowbridge Road West.
Leah Pollard, prosecuting, said: “[Ms Richards] could hear a noise described as a screeching car. The noise was so loud it was unbelievable.
“The sound was getting closer and closer before the car went through the concrete beams and the shop window.
“The only thing she could do was put her head in her hands and wait for the car to hit. She thought she was going to die.”
Ms Richards was later taken to hospital after suffering from a seizure linked to shock, bruises to her hip, stomach and right leg, and tissue damage in her right ankle.
Shaking while reading her victim impact statement aloud in court, she said her daughter now turns up the TV volume at home to stop her mother hearing the sound of cars outside their house.
She said: “Since the incident I have been all over the place. I feel I don’t know myself any more.
“Everything gets so hard to deal with on a daily basis. Even the littlest things.I just want to be in my house all the time. I feel so tired, I feel sorry for my children the amount of times they see me crying.
“I just want to be normal again. I have been having flashbacks about the incident a few times a week. There is no warning. Everything around me feels like a danger. Every time I am in the car I feel overwhelmed.
“I don’t let my kids play in the front garden any more because of the cars going down the street. It has wrecked my life.
“Some days I have said I think I wish he had killed me that day, I live it over and over, again and again and I feel I am never going to get over it.
“I wish I couldn’t remember it.”
In a statement David Lai, owner of the popular takeaway, said he was left around £16,500 out of pocket covering the damage caused while waiting for his insurance to cover the costs.
He said: “I have had to borrow from friends and family in order to keep the business going.
“I cannot open my shop to the public so I have to work from the back of the shop [for food deliveries].
“I have a six-month-old daughter and the seriousness of the incident has affected my life. I ended up missing payments on my mortgage.”
The court heard Cadogan fled the scene “covered in blood” and was arrested at his former partner Kayleigh Carey’s house the following day.
After being granted bail, he was later arrested for threatening Ms Carey and friend Brianna Tobin in a series of phone calls between February 13 and 18, 2019.
Describing one incident involving Ms Carey on February 14, Ms Pollard said: “[Ms Casey] received a voicemail from the defendant for her to go outside. He was laughing and saying [the next] firework would be put through her letter box. The next voicemail was counting down.
“On her birthday he said he was going to find her, he would be looking for her. The message ended ‘I am going to catch you f **** r.”
Ms Carey, who received between 20 and 30 phone calls a day from the defendant during the time period, said: “I just want him to leave me, my friends and family alone.
“I am constantly looking over my shoulder.
“I don’t go out as I think he will see me.
“I am constantly hiding from him but I should not have to.
“I have had to move else where with my three children and it’s not fair on them.”
Hashim Salman, defending, said there had been difficulties engaging with Cadogan while in custody.
Mr Salman said the father-of-two had “serious” issues with self harm and suicidal ideation, and had been put under surveillance while in custody.
Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams described the CCTV of the takeaway incident as “absolutely horrifying”.
He said: “[Ms Richards] thought she going going to die.
“She was injured both physically and psychologically.
“She says in essence her life has been wrecked.”
Before the hearing, Cadogan, of Morris Finer Close, Ely, pleaded guilty to damaging property, dangerous driving and assault occasioning actual bodily harm towards Gemma Richards.
He also pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order in relation to Kayleigh Carey, and sending malicious communications to Ms Carey and Brianna Tobin.
Cadogan was sentenced to eight years and three months’ imprisonment, half of which will be served in custody before being released on licence.
The defendant clapped and laughed in the dock after receiving his sentence.