Rhyl: Delivery driver jailed for reversing over man in one-way street

Vinny McDonald was 'everyone's friend', his family said

A delivery van driver who killed an 82-year-old man after reversing over him down a one-way street has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Lee Jones, 35, pleaded guilty to causing Patrick McDonald's death by dangerous driving.

The court heard Jones reversed after driving past his destination and hit the great-grandfather on Church Street in Rhyl, Denbighshire.

Judge Rhys Rowlands called his actions "dangerous and fraught with risk".

Mold Crown Court heard on Thursday that Mr McDonald - who was known as Vinny and worked as a hairdresser and window cleaner - was left with severe head and chest injuries after the October 2022 incident and died in hospital.

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James Coutts, prosecuting, said Mr McDonald had no reason to expect Jones' Citroen van to approach from his left.

An eyewitness saw him try to outrun the vehicle before he was knocked down and run over.

Mr Coutts said the van had in five seconds reversed 10 metres (32.8ft) and was going too fast for Jones to react to reversing sensors.

Judge Rowlands told Jones: "You had driven past where you were meant to deliver a parcel. You chose to save time and reverse back, albeit a short distance, in contravention of the one-way system.

"It wasn't just a foolish and irresponsible thing to do, but something which was plainly very dangerous and tragically [that] transpired to be the case."

He said the crash was an accident which could have been avoided.

It was, the judge added, "poignant" that Mr McDonald's daughter and partner came across Mr McDonald being treated by ambulance staff.

"I have little doubt your desire to get on with your round was a feature in what happened," he said.

Jones, of Marine Road, in Abergele, Conwy county, told police he had never driven the delivery route at Rhyl before.

Simon Rogers, defending, said Jones, a delivery van driver for a year, had no previous convictions and had served with the Army in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The tragedy, the court heard, had a "profound" effect on him.

Jones was also given a driving ban for six years and nine months and was ordered to take an extended test.