A former Rolls-Royce engineer who had been told he was cancer-free just 24 hours earlier was left with serious injuries after a van driver travelling at over 80mph crashed into his nearly stationary car on the A38 near Derby.
Crash Details and Aftermath
Aaron Roberts, 38, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, was driving his Ford Transit at 82mph when he slammed into the back of Roger Bowler's Nissan Micra on July 1 last year. The force of the impact sent Roberts's van spinning into other vehicles and the central reservation. Mr Bowler, 73, a retired chief combustion engineer for Rolls-Royce, suffered multiple broken ribs and other injuries.
Victim's Condition and Tragic Outcome
Mr Bowler, described by his daughter as “fully independent with a sharp mind” before the crash, passed away seven months later in March this year after his cancer returned. In a victim impact statement read to Derby Crown Court, his daughter said: “I lost him in March but I feel like I lost him in the crash, it absolutely destroyed me.” She added: “Only 24 hours after being told he was cancer-free, I got a call from the police to say he was being airlifted to the hospital following a car accident. I can’t explain the shock I felt going from elation to complete devastation.”
Driver's Actions and Sentencing
Prosecutor Declan Austin told the court that Roberts had been sending selfies and WhatsApp messages to a group called 'Lads, lads, lads' moments before the crash. Evidence showed he had been driving at 89mph just five seconds before the collision and was on his phone between Etwall and the crash site. Judge Shaun Smith KC remarked: “You were doing 82mph at the point you thumped into the back of Mr Bowler’s car… Nobody had a chance. At the point of collision you were travelling in a straight line and what does that tell me? It tells me you did not see a single thing because you were not concentrating as you had been looking at your phone. As I say, it was an appalling piece of driving.”
Previous Offences and Mitigation
Roberts, who has no previous convictions, had received three and six points for two separate speeding offences months before the crash. He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving. His mitigating barrister, Lesley Pidcock, urged the judge to suspend the sentence, noting that Roberts stopped at the scene and told a witness, “I tried to stop but I was too late.”
Sentence and Disqualification
Judge Smith sentenced Roberts to two years in prison and disqualified him from driving for two years and 10 months. Mr Bowler's daughter concluded her statement by saying: “My dad always told me to look at life with the glass half full. What I really want to stress is that before the accident my dad was fully independent with no physical limitations and his mind remained sharp.”
