Video shows moment dad is hit by driver who ‘left him for dead’

CCTV footage shows the shocking moment a driver hits a Bedworth ^[1] dad and ‘leaves him for dead’ according to his family. It captured on camera the car cutting the corner at junction of Dark Lane and Goodyers End Lane.

At the same time, the granddad, whose family have asked to not to be named, is crossing the road and is hit. But the driver carries on, leaving him in the lying in the middle of the road.

“Whoever it was just drove away and basically left him to die on the road,” his son told CoventryLive. “My dad had to crawl out of the road onto the path to get away of any vehicles, which he struggled to do.

“Then he just stayed there and waited for someone to stop and help. If this had been a child or elderly person they wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

As the grandfather recovers, his family are determined to get ‘justice’ for the dad of two. So far a police appeal has led to no arrests and the family claim that they have been forced to take on much of the investigation themselves.

“We have no point of contact with them (the police),” the son said. “We passed on all of the footage but we don’t even know if it has been looked at yet.

“We know that they have done door to door in Dark Lane but we don’t know who is investigating this, and what is happening. We feel like we are in limbo.” So the family are now sharing the CCTV footage themselves in a bid to try and trigger someone’s memory – or even conscience.

“We want to bring this person to justice because nobody should be able to drive away from their responsibilities, if you hit someone, then you stop and help them,” he said.

“There is a fellow human you left on the road to die that could have been hit by another car. He (his dad) has got grandchildren, he has got children, he has got a wife, he has got a brother. There are other people involved, it is not just the person you hit.”

The grandfather was out on one of his usual nightly walks on Monday night when he was hit as he crossed the road. “The driver turns in from the wrong side of the road, cuts the corner and just carried on. If they had turned the right way in, it would have been a near miss, but they didn’t, they cut the corner, from the wrong side, too fast,” his son said.

“You would know if you had hit someone, but they just carried on. It is heartless.”

The son has personally offered a £500 reward for anyone who can help provide information that leads to the prosecution of the driver, who left his dad on a spinal board and needing hospital treatment following the hit and run on Monday night (November 27).^[3]

“Whoever it was, to cut the corner in that way, you must know the area. These are your roads, these are local to you, whoever it is knows the estate and knows the roads,” he said. He added that, despite the upset, the family have repeatedly watched the CCTV footage in a desperate attempt to find clues about the car.

“I have watched it again and again, so it is like you are watching your dad get run over hundreds of times, not just once, as I am really trying to look at that car,” he said.

He added that the community have been their biggest ally so far, having shared the footage on local Facebook forums. “The community have been really really helpful,” the son said. “They have looked at it (the footage) and they have said ‘oh it’s a Vauxhall’. We were convinced it was a Corsa, but then a guy said that the brake light at the bottom looks like an Insignia.

“Using the community has really helped to try and thin it down and we have also had a message confidentially about the car.”

He concluded: “We just want to bring this person to justice.”

CoventryLive contacted Warwickshire Police ^[4] in regards to the concerns raised about the investigation by the family. A spokesman said: “We’re sorry to hear about the concerns raised and we will be making contact with the victim’s family to discuss these.”

In the meantime, anyone who recognises the vehicle in the footage or who has any information about the incident should call Warwickshire ^[5] Police on 101, quoting incident number 281 of November 27.

Details can also be given to the independent charity Crimestoppers, which is free to call from a landline and anonymous, on 0800 555 111.

For the latest Nuneaton stories you can get them emailed to you by signing up here ^[6]

References

^{^} Bedworth (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^{^} Supreme Court ruling in favour of Nuneaton and Bedworth traveller ban (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^{^} hit and run on Monday night (November 27). (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^{^} Warwickshire Police (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^{^} Warwickshire (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^{^} here (data.reachplc.com)