20 months for BMW driver who left cyclist with brain injuries

A BMW driver who left a cyclist for dead with serious brain injuries after he knocked him off his bike on the wrong side of the road was jailed for 20 months.

Sean Fagan, 29, was caught on CCTV ploughing into medical student Josh Dey, 22, in Swain’s Lane, Highgate, north London, and driving off, on Easter Sunday April 21.

Fagan admitted causing injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop after a road traffic accident in his black BMW convertible at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Prosecutor Arizuna Asante said: ‘The victim in this case, who happens to be in court with his parents, is Mr Dey.

‘In his statement, he describes that he was cycling around in his bicycle in Swain’s Lane.

‘He recalls that at the roundabout he slowed down and proceeded to cross it, and he stopped to allow the flow of oncoming traffic,’ said Mr Asante.

‘The last thing he remembers in waking up in a hospital in a lot of pain.’

CCTV footage played in court showed Fagan’s BMW swerving into Mr Dey’s path on the wrong side of the road, sending the cyclist somersaulting through the air.

Mr Dey is left lying in the road while three bystanders rush to his aid while Fagan simply accelarates away, after nearly losing control of his car.

Mr Dey suffered a bleed on the brain, a broken nose and permanent damage to his knee.

In his victim impact statement, the medical student said the accident has left him feeling fearful, anxious for the future and in physical pain.

‘He has been told that his knee may never fully recover as the ligament is completely ripped,’ said the prosecutor.

‘He had to retake his entire fourth year of his medical degree due to the impact on his cognitive function.’

Defending Fagan, Ciara McElvogue (corr) said he had become distracted after a row with his intoxicated passenger,

‘Nevertheless, he fully accepts that he lost control of that vehicle and that he was on the wrong side of the road,’ said Ms McElvogue.

‘Prior to the to the commission of this offence he held a clean driver’s license.

‘He lost control on the day in question through distraction.

‘He failed to stop at the site of the incident through panic.

‘Of course, in hindsight, he acknowledges he should have stopped.

‘At the moment he himself went into shock about the enormity of what had happened,’ she said.

‘He fully acknowledges not only the physical injuries that he has inflicted to Mr Dey but also how catastrophic this has been to Mr Dey’s life.’

Judge John Hillen told Fagan: ‘You lost control of your vehicle, whatever the reason for that was, your driving was out of control and became dangerous.

‘You approached that mini-roundabout with Mr Dey riding on his bicycle.

‘Looking at the CCTV it was a terrifying moment for anyone, cyclist, pedestrian or another car coming from a different direction.

‘You drove straight into Mr Dey and hit him head on so that he flew straight into the air and fell into the road motionless.

‘One might have expected then for a normal, decent human being to stop at that point,’ added the judge.

‘Mr Dey could have been left with injuries which prevented him from continuing with a normal life or his life could have been taken completely by you, by your dangerous driving.’

Fagan, who appeared in court in black jeans, a white shirt and blue hoodie showed no reaction to the judge’s sentence as his mother wept in court.

Fagan, of Regina Road, Islington, admitted one count of causing injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop after a road traffic accident and failing to report an accident to the police.

He was sentenced to 20 months in prison and banned from driving for two years and ten months.

The judge also made a deprivation order in respect of the BMW convertible.
ENDS