Man in road died after taxi hit him
ADAD died after being hit by a taxi while walking in the middle of a busy carriageway, an inquest has heard.
Jamie Owen was killed in the collision on the A4059 in Aberdare just moments after “losing it” at police who had falsely accused him of driving a car without a licence.
Mr Owen, from Cadoxton in Neath, was hit by a Ford Transit taxi at around 50mph in an “unavoidable” collision.
Despite the best efforts of police and paramedics to save him, Mr Owen, 43, died at the scene.
An inquest into his death at Pontypridd Coroner’s Court yesterday heard that Mr Owen had served time in prison on three or four occasions for drug offences and just weeks before his death had been disqualified from driving and lost his licence. He had an addiction to diazepam tablets and previously heroin which, according to his mother, Julie Heale, had “destroyed his life”.
The inquest then heard that the day before the incident – on Friday, January 15, 2021 – Mr Owen had hosted a party at his house in Cwmbach. The following day, Mr Owen and some of his friends continued to socialise at his house for a further evening. Friend Barry Gilbert told the inquest that Mr Owen was not drinking excessively but believed he had been smoking heroin.
Later in the evening, a “vague acquaintance” of Mr Owen and Mr Gilbert, Robert Smith, arrived at the party before offering to drive both men up the road to a shop. Mr Smith drove Mr Gilbert’s girlfriend’s white BMW. However, shortly after they set off from Mr Owen’s house there was a problem with the steering wheel, which caused Mr Smith to pull over. Mr Smith then got out of the car and ran from the scene. Mr Owen started clearing items out of the boot of the car when police arrived at the scene.
Pc Martin Shackell, of South Wales Police, told the inquest that when Mr Owen and Mr Gilbert were questioned over who was driving the vehicle, officers were told that it was Mr Smith, who had “just got out and legged it”.
Mr Owen was searched and a key which matched the car was found, but it was soon established that this key could not have been used to start the vehicle as it did not have a fob on it.
“Mr Owen was unhappy at being accused of driving,” Pc Shackell said. “He was clearly under the influence of something but I couldn’t smell anything.” Further statements from attending police officers mentioned that Mr Owen was “very angry”.
However, Pc Shackell said that while Mr Owen had initially asked for a lift home from officers, which was accepted, he later changed his mind and said he was going to walk.
Despite his behaviour, police said they had no concerns about Mr Owen’s wellbeing, noting that they had a “clear and coherent conversation” with him and he was steady on his feet. He then left the scene and began walking down the road.
Shortly before 10.50pm, another driver, Michael Groves, was driving along the road when he saw a pedestrian “suddenly appear” in the middle of the carriageway. He swerved to avoid him, missing him “by inches”.
Moments later, Mr Owen was hit by a black Ford Transit taxi driven by Nicholas Davies. Mr Davies said that he realised he had hit a pedestrian when his windscreen “shattered” and he “saw the silhouette of a person”.
Police arrived at the scene less than a minute later. Officers began CPR before ambulance crews arrived but Mr Owen was pronounced dead at 11.53pm.
A medical cause of death was given as multiple injuries. A toxicology report revealed Mr Owen had cocaine, etizolam, diazepam, codeine and morphine in his urine and blood at the time of his death. He also had therapeutic amounts of buprenorphine (or Subutex) in his system, having been put on a programme to help treat his addiction.
A forensic report found the taxi was travelling at between 47mph and 57mph – below the 60mph limit – when it collided with Mr Owen and there were no mechanical defects.
Rachel Knight, assistant coroner for South Wales Central, found while conclusions of suicide and road traffic collision were available, she chose to deliver a narrative conclusion.