Killed cyclist was heading to Welshpool

 

Gareth Crockett, 27, of Craigavon in Northern Ireland, died instantly after his spinal cord was severed in the collision on the A55 eastbound near Rhostrehwfa. And 85-year old Huw Edwards, 85, of Anglesey, told an inquest he was full of remorse and didn’t know how he failed to notice Mr Crockett.

 

“My condolences to the family of the deceased, I am very sorry and I wish I could turn the clock back,” he said.

 

Mr Crockett had set off to Welshpool after arriving in Holyhead with four other cyclists as part of a charity ride from Dublin to London on April 13. The cyclists had been riding for around an hour and travelling at around 15mph when the collision occurred.

 

North west Wales coroner Dewi Pritchard Jones heard from the police that the cyclists wore brightly coloured clothing and would have been visible to Mr Edwards, who was travelling at around 50mph, for up to a kilometre before the collision.

 

“It appears that he ran up the back of the bike. Mr Crockett was thrown onto the bonnet of the car, and then thrown forward by the momentum onto the road's surface, and finished up with an injury that caused his death,” Mr Pritchard Jones said.

 

Mr Edwards continued until the next layby before he and his wife Mabel stopped to call the emergency services.

 

Recording a narrative verdict, Mr Pritchard Jones' said: “The deceased died as a result of being struck from behind by a car being driven in an inconsiderate manner by an elderly driver whose driving abilities are questionable.”