Dangerous driver who caused death of cyclist has application to endhis driving ban rejected
 

QUOTE:
A driver who caused the death of a cyclist seven years ago by driving a minibus dangerously said not a day goes by when he does not think of him.

Andrzej Wojcicki was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for 10 years on August 28, 2014 after he was found guilty of causing the death of Owain James.

His case was listed before Judge Jeremy Jenkins at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday as he made an application to remove his driving ban.

The incident happened when Wojcicki was driving a left-hand drive Mercedes minibus on the A472 at Newbridge on July 21, 2013.

The court heard the three-tonne minibus “ploughed into” 30-year-old Mr James on a dual carriageway. Prosecutors alleged he did not see the cyclist because he had been distracted by taking photographs of vintage cars on his mobile phone.

Nicholas Jones, prosecuting, told the jury the driver hit the cyclist from behind, causing him to hit the windscreen and inflicting serious injuries.

In his evidence, Wojcicki said his wife was in the passenger seat and his two daughters were in the back as they drove home after attending a faith conference in Coventry.

It took a jury of nine men and three women two hours and 40 minutes to find him guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge David Wynn Morgan said: “It is bad enough when a person is driving an ordinary car, but you were driving a three-tonne minibus – Mr James did not stand a chance.”

Wojcicki was jailed for five years and disqualified from driving for 10 years. He was told he would have to pass an extended driving test before being allowed behind the wheel again.

On Tuesday, the court heard he was granted leave to appeal the disqualification in March 2015, but he was having difficulties with legal representation after his solicitor-advocate was struck off.

Following the trial, Judge Wynn Morgan reprimanded the lawyer, who had been referring to himself as Lord Harley, for dressing “like something out of Harry Potter”.

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/w...james-17765642