DRIVER DENIES USING PHONE
A VAN driver who knocked down and killed a cyclist was distracted by using Instagram and Facebook on his phone, a court has heard.
Off-duty police sergeant Lynwen Thomas was riding along the A40 in Carmarthenshire when Simon Draper crashed into her, causing catastrophic and fatal injuries.
Draper, 42, of Meidrim Road, St Clears, denies he was using his phone at the time of the collision, saying he had given the mobile to his toddler son in the back of the vehicle to “soothe” the boy.
The defendant accepts causing the death of the 37-year-old cyclist by careless driving but denies the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, and is on trial at Swansea Crown Court.
The court heard Ms Thomas was cycling along the A40 near Bancyfelin on the evening of February 25 last year when she was struck by a Ford Transit van being driven by the defendant.
Despite the best efforts of witnesses and paramedics, she died at the scene.
A VAN driver who knocked down and killed a cyclist was distracted by using Instagram and Facebook on his phone, a court has heard.
Off-duty police sergeant Lynwen Thomas was riding along the A40 in Carmarthenshire when Simon
Draper crashed into her, causing catastrophic and fatal injuries.
Draper denies he was using his phone at the time of the collision, saying he had given the mobile to his toddler son in the back of the vehicle to “soothe” the boy.
The defendant accepts causing the death of the 37-year-old cyclist by careless driving but denies the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, and is on trial at Swansea Crown Court.
The court heard Ms Thomas was cycling along the A40 near Bancyfelin on the evening of February 25 last year when she was struck by a Ford Transit van being driven by the defendant.
Despite the best efforts of witnesses and paramedics, she died at the scene.
Opening the case on Monday, barrister Carina Hughes said it was the prosecution case that Draper had been “distracted” by his use of a mobile phone at the time of the collision, and that the standard of his driving was such that it was not just carless but dangerous.
The barrister told the court that an examination of the defendant’s phone after the incident showed apps including Whatsapp, Instagram and Facebook had been in use in the minutes before the fatal crash, with Draper opening and closing apps and moving between them multiple times.
She said that at 6.42pm the Instagram app on the defendant’s phone was closed and the Facebook app opened for the final time – at 6.43pm Draper’s van hit the cyclist.
The barrister said throughout its usage the phone was held vertically, in a portrait orientation. She said it was the prosecution case that the defendant was distracted by his phone usage and had a lack of attention on the road ahead of him, and as a result he did not have “adequate control of his vehicle”.
Miss Hughes said that driving while using a mobile phone to the extent the defendant did was dangerous, and that “Lynwen Thomas paid the ultimate price”.
The court heard that following the crash, Draper was arrested and subsequently answered “no comment” to all questions asked but gave officers a prepared statement in which he said he had not been in possession of the phone at the time of the collision. He said he had given the phone to his 13-month-old son Ted who was in the back of the van to “soothe” the youngster, and he added he had looked back at his son “for a split second” and did not see the cyclist.
The trial heard expert evidence from paediatrician Mohammed Rahman, who told the jury that a child of 13 months would lack the mental capacity and manual dexterity to carry out the actions being described such as double-tapping the home button on a phone, and he said while a child may be able to “swipe” a screen, perhaps copying what he or she had seen a parent do, its movements would be “random”.
He also said a child of that age would not be able to hold a phone with one hand while performing the functions with the other.
Barrister Tim Evans, for Draper, challenged the witness on his assessments of the capabilities of a child of the age in question, and said a child of around 13 months was capable of repetitive motions such as doubletapping. He also said it was likely that a child who had been given a phone to play with would touch colourful images on the screen.
The barrister asked the witness whether he was aware of any published papers about young children and their abilities to operate mobile phones. The doctor said he was not.
The trial also heard evidence from Ashley Croaker, who was a passenger in a car which was travelling immediately behind Draper’s van at the time of the crash. Dashcam footage of the collision from Miss Croaker’s car was played to the court.
In response to questions from the prosecution barrister, the witness said she first became aware of the van when she saw it moving across the inside lane towards the right-hand lane of the dual carriageway. She said in her view it looked “distracted”. She said she then saw the van going over the solid white line on the left hand side of the carriageway “several times”.
The witness told the jury she had sight of the van for “a good five minutes” before hearing a bang and seeing a white light coming from the back of the vehicle, though at that time did not know what had just happened.
In cross examination, Mr Evans, for the defendant, challenged the witness about her description of the van crossing the solid white line several times. The court also heard from Osian Thomas, a family friend of Lynwen Thomas, who told the court he had seen her riding along the A40 earlier on the evening in question and had been surprised that the experienced cyclist was wearing black clothing, as well as from Tania Morgan, a civilian member of staff with Dyfed-powys Police, who overtook a cyclist, now known to be the deceased, and saw the bike had an “extremely bright” and “very, very obvious” red light on the back.
Simon Draper, aged 42, of Meidrim Road, St Clears, denies causing death by dangerous driving.
The trial continues.