Court clears husband of running over rival
AROAD safety campaigner has been acquitted by a jury of mowing down his wife’s new lover in his car.
Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Spiller, 36, was cleared at Newport Crown Court and afterwards spoke of the “12 months of hell” he said he had endured.
He said he was “completely shocked” at the actions of his wife Vicky, who gave evidence on behalf of her lover Karl Davies – the man he was accused of deliberately running down in his Audi A5.
A jury took less than one hour to find dad-of-two not guilty of dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Mr Spiller, of Broadlands, Bridgend, had been married to Vicky, 35, for 10 years before they split up but they remained living in the same home.
Speaking after the verdict, he said: “I am relieved that this nightmare has been brought to an end, and 12 months of unfounded accusations resulted in a jury finding me not guilty in 30 minutes of all charges.
“I regret very much that Karl Davies suffered series injuries as a result of my actions on February 11, 2017, however the accusations that I ran over him have been proven to be untrue.
“There was absolutely no physical evidence on the car and Karl Davies never received any lower body injuries.
“Karl Davies approached my car as I was pulling up and my female passenger was subjected to an unprovoked assault.
“After smashing through the passenger window with his bare fists he proceeded to try and drag my female passenger through the broken window by her hair.
“To prevent her being further hurt I drove the car away, as a result Karl fell from the vehicle causing him significant injury to which we were completely unaware.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody that has trusted and supported me throughout this horrendous ordeal and for my community for showing the faith in me to reelect me in May 2017 despite the outstanding allegations against me.”
During the trial the court heard Mr Davies was knocked unconscious and left with a fractured skull after the incident.
Mr Spiller told the court that his wife and Mr Davies, 40, would meet up to go running and became “uncomfortably friendly”.
He said: “Vicky’s attitude towards me and the children changed.
“She got very distant, she began to spend a lot of time trying to get out of the house.
“When she was in the house she was on the phone to him and texting him.”
Mr Spiller told the court to celebrate New Year’s Eve they went for a family meal in a Chinese restaurant where “Vicky got blind drunk”.
He said: “We got back to the house afterwards and Vicky just got her stuff and said, ‘I’m going out.’
“She spent the night with Karl Davies, the children were home with me. That confirmed a suspicion I had.”