Some strange details here; young for a bus driver, then using a van as a taxi, and then the handbrake thing
Teenager will grow up with only one foot because of unlicensed taxi driverhttps://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wale ... e-31921050Before it happened, the boy loved boxing, playing football, and riding his bike and scooter, and had just started an apprenticeship as a carpenterA bus driver moonlighting as an unlicensed taxi driver crashed into a teenager walking home causing horrific leg injuries, a court has heard. As a result of Jarrad Wicks' driving the boy had to have part of his leg amputated and is life has been turned upside down.
Merthyr Crown Court heard the 16-year-old victim had enjoyed playing football, boxing, and riding his bike before the crash and had just embarked on an apprenticeship but all that was changed in a moment. The victim's mum said she is very proud of the resilience her son had shown.
Rebecca Griffiths, prosecuting, told the court on the night of October 22, 2022, Wicks was using a VW Caddy van to operate an unlicensed taxi business when he responded to a request put out on Snapchat to ferry a party-of-five from Pentre to the Squares club in Porth.
A price of £20 was agreed and the defendant picked up his fare. The court heard the passengers got into the rear cargo area of the van - which did not have seats or seatbelts - and Wicks set off with a youth who was helping him sat beside him in the front passenger seat.
The court heard that as the Caddy headed for Porth it was seen to suddenly swerve across the road and mount the pavement, hitting a 16-year-old boy who was walking home having spent the evening watching TV with friends. The van then collided with a wall before spinning back into the road.
The prosecutor said Wicks got out of the van and was heard to shout at the youth sat next to him about pulling on the handbrake saying "You have been doing it all f****** night".
People living on the street rushed to help the casualty and the boy's mum was alerted to what had happened and was soon on the scene.
Paramedics subsequently arrived and the casualty was taken to Swansea's Morriston Hospital. The court heard that such was the damage to the boy's right leg doctors decided that the lower part of the limb could not be saved, and following discussions with the patient and his parent the decision was taken to carry out a partial amputation.
Meanwhile Wicks had been arrested at the scene and was noted to "emotional" and worried for the welfare of the casualty. He told officers he had been the one driving the van and said his passenger had operated the handbrake while he was driving.
In a statement from the victim's mother which was read to the court by the prosecutor she set out the impact of the collision and her son's injuries.
She said when she arrived at the scene and saw her son laying motionless on the floor with people gathered around him sheltering him from the rain with umbrellas she thought he was dead.
The mum said prior to the accident her son enjoyed boxing, playing football, and riding his bike and scooter, and said he had just started an apprenticeship as a carpenter which was something he really enjoyed.
She said all that changed as a result of what happened, and she said she is concerned for what the future may hold for her son.
The mum said her son does not like using crutches or his wheelchair and does not like going without his prosthetic foot as he "does not like to be seen as different". She said her son had worked hard at rehabilitation and she said she was very proud of his resilience.
Jarrad Wicks, aged 25, of Bryn Ffynon, Trebanog, Porth, had previously pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
The plea was entered on the basis that he had been exceeding the 30mph speed limit but had been doing no more than 40mph and that his passenger - who had originally been a co-defendant - had pulled on the handbrake. The plea was acceptable to the prosecution.
Martha Smith-Higgins, for Wicks, said the defendant wanted the to apologise to the victim and his family and that he is "deeply sorry" for what happened.
He said her client had been working as a bus driver at the time of the collision but lost that employment as a result of his conviction, and she said it was clear from the contents of the pre-sentence report that his behaviour had been "immature and reckless" but that he had done a lot of growing up in the years since the incident.
With a one-quarter discount for his guilty plea Wicks was sentenced to 27 months in prison. He will serve up to half that sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant was banned from driving for 39 months and must pass an extended test before he can get his licence back.
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