Supreme Court Dismisses Collision Appeal
The court has dismissed an appeal from Dennis Webb relating to a conviction of causing bodily harm by driving without due care and attention for an incident in 2016, which resulted in a female pedestrian .
The ruling said, “Mr. Webb appeals his conviction of causing bodily harm by driving without due care and attention under section 37A of the Road Traffic Act 1947. He asserts that the Learned Magistrate erred in finding that he had failed to keep a proper look out as the basis for convicting him.”
The court heard that on March 13th 2016, just before dawn, a woman “was walking in a southerly direction crossing Spurling Hill on the north side of Crow Lane. As she was approaching the other side of Spurling Hill in the westbound lane, she was struck by the Appellant’s motorcycle as he was entering the westbound lane of Spurling Hill from Crow Lane.”
She was “knocked to the ground and suffered a 12 inch laceration to her left calf and a broken left wrist. Both injuries required surgical repair.”
“The parties agree that the weather was clear, the road conditions were dry and traffic was light. It was also agreed that before the collision that the Appellant was not speeding nor driving in a reckless manner.
“The Appellant argues that the Learned Magistrate erred in finding that he failed to keep a proper lookout when he would have had no reasonable expectation of encountering a pedestrian in that location. ”
“The Learned Magistrate’s reasons are comprehensive. He thoroughly analyzed all the evidence in this matter. In addition to summarizing the prosecution witnesses in direct examination and in cross-examination, he analysed the CCTV footage which captured the accident. A portion of his reasons at paragraph 30 is particularly relevant: “In the very next frame (at 06;25:58.778) the Complainant is squarely walking in the middle of the Defendant’s left (westbound) lane of Spurling Hill; the Defendant’s motorcycle is clearly heading straight for her three-quarters of the way across the east bound land of East Broadway/Crow Lane, having cut the corner…”
The ruling added, “For the reasons stated I would dismiss this appeal. The Magistrate embarked on a comprehensive analysis of the evidence and the law in relation to this case. There is ample evidence to support his finding of guilt in this matter. Despite the able submissions of Ms. Christopher on the potential effects of glare, I see no basis to overturn the Magistrate’s findings in this matter. Given the evidence before him I see no reason to question the inferences he made nor his ultimate finding. I see no palpable error on his part.”
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