Slowing down 'may have prevented' councillor's fatal crash

Ceredigion county councillor Paul James died in April 2019

A man accused of causing the death of a councillor in a crash has said he may have been able to avoid him had he been driving more slowly.

Ceredigion councillor Paul James, 61, was knocked off his bicycle and run over near Aberystwyth in April 2019.

Christopher Jones, 40, said he had slowed down to about 40mph on the A487 because of the glare of the sun.

Lowri Powell, 44, of Penrhyncoch, and Mr Jones, 40, of Devil's Bridge, deny causing death by careless driving.

Swansea Crown Court previously heard how Mr James was knocked off his bike by Mrs Powell's Ford Galaxy before he was run over by Mr Jones' Vauxhall Vectra in April 2019.

Both said they were dazzled by sunlight and Jim Davis, prosecuting, said experts disagreed with both defendants' claims they could not see Mr James in his hi-vis jacket.

But Ms Powell's barrister, Virginia Hayton, reminded jurors of David Winstanley's expert evidence that the reflection of the dashboard in the windscreens of both cars would have a similar effect to sun glare.

Dazzled by the sun

The court heard how Mr Jones had been driving with his wife and three children in the car when the crash happened on 11 April last year

"The sun dazzled me," he said.

"I noticed a yellow hi-vis jacket at the front left-hand corner of the bonnet and then I heard a bang."

Mr Jones told the court he slammed on the brakes before getting out.

When asked by his defence solicitor Dyfed Thomas if his car had killed Mr James, Mr Jones replied: "Yes."

When asked if the collision could have been avoided, he said: "No."

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Mr Davis asked him whether he remembered seeing Ms Powell's Ford Galaxy ahead on the road, which has a 60mph limit.

"It's just blurry," he said.

"If you had been going more slowly, you'd have had a better chance of avoiding him, wouldn't you?" asked Mr Davis.

"Yes," replied Mr Jones.

The court heard how Mr Jones had served as an infantry soldier in the Territorial Army, where his duties included driving the battalion commander.

He also worked as a taxi driver in Ceredigion.

The trial is taking place at Swansea Crown Court

In his closing speech, Mr Davis said of both defendants: "Each of them played a part in Paul James' death."

He added Ms Powell was not paying enough attention to the road ahead.

"It was almost her misfortune Paul James was cycling where he was," he said.

"The cyclist in his hi-vis jacket was, according to her, impossible to see."

He told the jury Mr Jones knew of the potential for sun glare on the A487 and that cyclists may have been on the road.

"But on this day he was unfortunately not putting that knowledge and experience into practice."

In his closing statement for Mr Jones, Mr Thomas said "it was an accident", and the prosecution was relying on hindsight to say Mr Jones "should have done this".

He reminded the jury that witness Gwawr Williams had said Mr Jones did not have time to brake.

On Thursday, Ms Powell told the jury she too had been dazzled by the sunshine.

She described feeling numb when she saw Mr James on the road under Mr Jones' car, and said had she been able to see Mr James, she would have swerved to avoid him.

The jury was sent home for the weekend and the judge is expected to sum up the case on Monday.