The driver who hit Paralympic cyclist Simon Richardson in August 2011 and left him for dead has been jailed for 18 months and banned from driving for five years following sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court today.
Mr Edward Adams, 60, was found guilty of the offence of dangerous driving after causing the crash on the A48 near Bridgend, Wales last year. He was driving with illegal levels of alcohol in his body and failed to stop at the scene.
Richardson was critically injured in the crash, suffering a double fracture of the spine, a double pelvis break, a broken breast bone, severe lacerations to his legs and a deflated lung. He only recently recovered enough to be able to ride at all, meaning his hopes to compete in the London 2012 Paralympic Games were dashed.
In a statement on his website, Simon said: "After a lengthy process, I’m today very relieved to now have some closure to the legal proceedings against the driver, Mr. Edward Adams , who collided with me whilst I was training in August 2011.
My objective throughout the case was to ensure that other cyclists who may be severely injured in collisions in the future, have a legal precedent upon which to base prosecutions against dangerous drivers. I fully respect the sentence carried by the judge of eighteen months imprisonment and a five year driving ban to Mr. Adams. My life is now all about moving on."
After thanking everyone who had helped him recover and the Crown Prosecution Service who pushed for his case to go to trial, Richardson said that he intends to return to training, with the aim of competing in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
"With the London 2012 Paralympics now upon us, I’ll be throwing my full support behind the competing athletes from Paralympics GB. It was an immense honour for me to light the cauldron in Cardiff on Tuesday, to carry the flame in London yesterday and to continue to be an ambassador for Paralympic sport."
