Lorry driver involved in fatal collision with Denbighshire cyclist banned for five years

The lorry driver involved in a fatal collision with Jane Greaves in Denbighshire last November has been handed a five-year driving ban and placed on a community order after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving.

John Dedman, 60, of Royston, Barnsley, hit Greaves at a crossroads on the B5428 near Trefnant, at a notorious accident blackspot.

Alun Humphreys, prosecuting, said that Dedman had told police: “I didn’t see her at all. She crossed the junction and before I knew...I just didn’t see her.”

He said that there had been a blind spot at his front near side corner, but the prosecution believed this could have been overcome by an adjustment of his seating position.

Andrew Hutchinson, defending, said of Dedman: “Physically he’s all right, emotionally he’s not,” and added that his client had been so affected by the incident that he had given up his job as an HGV driver.

“If he could turn the clock back he would, and the tragedy would live with him for the rest of his life. What we are seeing here is that the defendant’s standard of driving just dipped below the standard of a competent driver.”

The court heard that the lorry approached the crossroads at 3mph and hit the cyclist at about 11mph. A van driver is said to have heard Greaves shout, “Hey, hey,” as the lorry began to cross her path. Humphreys said she applied her brakes to try and avoid the collision, but the position of the lorry left her with no room to manoeuvre. She later died in hospital in Stoke on Trent.

Dedman was banned from driving for five years, placed on a community order for three months and will be electronically tagged for a 7pm-7am curfew. He was also asked to pay £145 costs.

Over a thousand people have signed a petition calling for safety improvements to be made to the junction where Greaves was killed. Jonathan Walker, who posted the petition, says that particular attention is required to significantly slow traffic on the Lower Denbigh Road and ensure that traffic entering the junction from the B5428 is brought to a stop.