A former soldier hit a teenager while driving and left him bleeding in the road before a 'Good Samaritan' doctor stopped and helped save the boy. Colin Williams was driving his Volkswagen on Barry's A4050 Port Road East shortly before 4am on December 5, 2020, when he struck Cem Ziyaeddin and fled.
He later returned to the scene to find the 16-year-old victim being treated by the passing Dr Benjamin Roper but Williams tried to hide his crime before police arrested him days later, Cardiff Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Alex Greenwood told the court: "Mr Ziyaeddin had been attending a house party in Barry. He left the party and was walking home. That night the area had limited street lighting and was damp as it had been raining earlier."
At around 4am Dr Roper was travelling along the 40mph route on his way to work at Barry Hospital when he swerved to avoid a dark object. As he passed he realised it was a person lying in the road. Mr Greenwood said: "He stopped and contacted emergency services. He saw the young man lying in a pool of blood close to his head and one of his trainers had been knocked 10m from his body. The man was unresponsive but breathing."
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Shortly afterwards emergency services arrived and took Mr Ziyaeddin to the University Hospital of Wales. He had a broken back, a laceration to his liver, and no recollection of the collision. At the scene police found plastic remnants of the 54-year-old defendant's vehicle and identified the make, model and approximate year of the car.
While searching Barry they found Williams' car, which matched the description. They used ANPR cameras to trace its movements. The footage showed the defendant had parked his car away from the scene, inspected the damage, and driven back to the crash site via a different route.
Mr Greenwood said: "When he got to the scene he stopped and it is the prosecution's case that he spoke to Dr Roper. Although some time had passed the defendant asked if everything was okay and if the doctor needed assistance. He remained at the scene for two minutes. CCTV showed the defendant driving home.
"The following morning he drove to work. The defendant booked his car in for repair at the Woodlands Garage in Cefn Coed. He hadn't previously used that garage. He explained the damage to his front bumper was as a result of hitting something on the way to work. He said he didn't know what he had hit. He stated it would be payment in cash. This represents a deliberate effort to evade detection."
Police arrested Williams on December 9. He gave two no-comment interviews. The prosecutor said the defendant left Mr Ziyaeddin at risk of "very serious injury or death" in the middle of the road. He added that the damage to the front nearside of the car suggested the victim was likely to have been already kneeling or lying down at the time of impact. Judge Neil Bidder QC said: "This was a poorly-lit road and the young man was not wearing particularly visible clothing. One can understand entirely why the prosecuting authority determined not to pursue a careless driving charge."
Williams, of Kingsland Crescent in Barry, waited until the day before a scheduled trial to plead guilty to perverting the course of justice. He also admitted failing to stop and report an accident and using tyres with an illegal tread depth. The court heard he has one previous conviction for an unrelated matter.
Julia Cox, mitigating, said her client was "overcome by panic", adding: "His mind swirled and his world fell apart." The judge replied: "I'm very sorry but he had plenty of time to think things out. Panic only goes so far."
The barrister added that Williams was dealing with his mother-in-law's recent diagnosis of dementia and was not "thinking straight". She said the defendant is thought of highly in his day-to-day life and manages a team at work. From the ages of 16 to 40 he served in the army on tours of Iraq, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland. "It goes without saying that during the course of those tours he would have seen events which many of us would have hoped never to see," she said.
Ms Cox said seeing the victim injured "had an effect" on her client though Judge Bidder said there was "not a shred of evidence to support that". The barrister pointed out the concealment had only lasted a matter of days but the judge replied: "It lasted as long as it took police to find him. That was nothing to do with him was it?"
Ms Cox said Williams has "served this country repeatedly", has a settled home life with his wife, and pays his mum's mortgage. She added: "If your honour imposes immediate custody that will result in significant harm to others – his wife, his mother-in-law, and his mother. The harsh reality is that if you send him to prison they will lose their homes."
The barrister said the case had been "over [Williams'] head for two years". But Judge Bidder pointed to the defendant's late guilty plea and replied: "He's greatly responsible for that isn't he?"
Jailing Williams for 16 months and banning him from driving for 20 months the judge told him: "You did not stop to make sure it was not a person. As a result you left a young man lying very seriously injured in the road. The impact of his injuries has been significant and long-lasting."
Judge Bidder added: "The fact that Dr Roper stopped, treated the victim, and saved that victim possibly from being killed is a matter which reflects extraordinarily well on him. A number of people passed by on the other side. This was the Good Samaritan that did not pass by."
The judge ordered that £50 be paid to the doctor from public funds as a "very small" token of gratitude. He added: "It is not in any sense a full reflection of the court's appreciation or the societal appreciation for what he did."
Detective Sergeant Lee Christer said: “Colin Williams left a 16-year-old boy on the road with life threatening injuries in the early hours of the morning. It is purely luck that a doctor was passing by and was able to offer the care and assistance that he needed at that time.
“Williams has been sentenced today not for being involved in a road traffic collision, but for going to great lengths to evade being linked with it. I hope that others can learn from this and make the right decision in a situation such as this. I’d like to give recognition to all those involved in investigating this incident, who managed to bring Williams to justice with little more than pieces of plastic left on the road. It is through this dedication that today’s sentence has been achieved.” You can read more news from Welsh courts here.
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