27 September 2023 , 10:20
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An unlicensed driver killed a dad-of-six in a horror road crash in the early hours of New Year's Day.
Gareth Roper, 35, had reportedly been abandoned barefoot by police three miles from his home in Wigan, Greater Manchester, when he was struck by Jamie Evans, 30, on January 1, 2022. Officers had visited Mr Roper's home in response to a call from his wife who claimed he was "acting somewhat strangely". She said she had six children in bed with Covid.
Sara Haque, prosecuting, said Mr Roper was taken from the address by police but de-arrested nine minutes later and left barefoot outside the Iceland store in Platt Bridge - three miles from his home, without money or a mobile phone. The court heard the officers who left Mr Roper were still under investigation. He was captured on CCTV footage moments before the deadly crash walking down Lily Lane towards his home address.
In the footage, he is seen whistling and clapping while walking barefoot on the double-painted white lines in the middle of the road with his jumper tied around his waist. Ms Haque said police suggested that Mr Roper was walking on the white lines in the centre of the road as they were smoother on his feet.
Jamie Evans was killed in a horror crash on Lily Lane, in Bamfurlong, Wigan (Men Media)Just after 4.15am, Mr Roper was struck from behind by Evans, who was driving a 2013 Volvo V60 at an estimated speed of 55mph on the 30mph single carriageway. Evans was not insured or licensed and only had an expired provisional licence. The car was also still registered to its previous owner, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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The court heard that around 40 minutes before the crash Evans was sighted driving into an Esso petrol station on Woodhouse Lane, Wigan. CCTV footage shows him going into the shop at the petrol station and buying cigarettes along with four cans of Stella. He is then seen taking a drink from one of the cans as he walks back to his car.
A man is then spotted in the footage getting into the passenger side of his car and passing Evans a small bottle of spirits which he takes a swig from. The 30-year-old then lights a cigarette in his car. Later two men and a woman are seen removing a crate of beer from the boot of Evan’s car and placing it in the back, the court heard.
Samples taken when Evans was arrested showed no presence of alcohol in his system but did show the breakdown of cocaine. Ms Haque said police decided there was no evidence Evans was under the influence at the time of the crash as it could not be established when the drug was taken.
After the smash Evans, of no fixed address, carried on driving and later abandoned his car on Harvey Lane. A taxi driver - who had earlier seen Mr Roper walking in the middle of Lily Lane and manoeuvred around him - later found him lying in the road and called 999. Mr Roper suffered “severe” injuries after he was thrown to the side of the road and his head made contact with the kerb on landing. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics at 4.47am.
Just after 3pm that same day, Evans called his mother and said he had “hit something or someone” and that they were dead. He then began repeatedly apologising. He also called the Volvo’s previous owner sounding “panicky” and said he had “hit someone and didn’t know what he was going to do”.
Not long after 7.30pm that evening, Evans handed himself in at Wigan Police Station and was arrested and later released on bail. The court heard that four months later Evans got behind the wheel of a van and sped away from a pursuing police car before crashing into a parked vehicle. Evans attempted to flee on foot following the crash but fell and was arrested.
The 30-year-old was subsequently jailed for 26 weeks and banned from driving for two years after he was convicted of dangerous driving, having no licence and failing to provide a specimen of breath. The court was also told that Evans has six previous convictions, five of which were linked to either violence or aggression, and two further convictions for two animal cruelty offences which he was on bail for at the time of the hit and run.
At Bolton Crown Court yesterday, Evans was jailed for nine years. He had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. Mitigating for Evans, Patrick Buckley said that the “enormity of the situation” had now hit the 30-year-old and that he had expressed “considerable remorse”.
Mr Buckley said Evans’s “most powerful point in mitigation” was his guilty plea and the fact that he handed himself into the police and acknowledged he was the driver. He said: “It would have been very easy to plead not guilty and buy time”, adding: “He could have made everyone in this courtroom wait for years”.
The court had previously heard that Mr Roper's wife said she was told by police he had been killed 45 minutes after being arrested by police at home. Referring to the events of the night of the hit and run and Mr Roper being left by the police, he said: “I’m at a loss as to why he was left where he was left by who he was. My understanding is that the officers involved are being investigated for gross negligent manslaughter.”
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In February of this year, the police watchdog confirmed it has referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as four officers 'may have committed a criminal offence' over the decision to de-arrest Mr Roper and 'drop him off some distance from his home'. The CPS will decide if criminal charges are appropriate.
The public gallery in court was packed with Mr Roper’s loved ones as they attended to learn Evans's fate. Passing sentence, Recorder Nicholas Clarke KC started by saying his “first thoughts” were with Mr Roper’s family. He described Mr Roper as a “hardworking dad” who was part of a “loving family” and “worked every hour to provide for his children”.
Recorder Clarke then referred to an expert’s findings which found that Mr Roper’s risk of death after being hit at 55 mph was 86 per cent while his risk of death at 30mph would have been just 7 per cent. Addressing Evans, he said: “In other words, had you been driving at the speed limit there would have been a 93 per cent chance that Mr Roper would still be alive.”
Recorder Clarke then turned to Evans’s dangerous driving offence that he committed a matter of months after the deadly crash. He said: “Frankly I find it utterly remarkable that having killed somebody on the first of January and knowing that you were under investigation for that you should continue to drive and drive dangerously still while not having any insurance or any driving licence. You clearly think that the laws of the road do not apply to you.”
Evans will serve two-thirds of the sentence in prison. When he is released Evans will be banned from driving for eight years.