Blaenavon man jailed for causing death of woman in crash

John Mark Morgan, 47, had previously pleaded not guilty to causing the death of Ray Jones, 50, by dangerous driving in Blaenavon on September 17 last year.

He later changed his plea to guilty.

The court was shown CCTV footage showing Morgan, of Ton-Mawr Street, Blaenavon, driving his Volvo from Blaenavon service station onto the B4246 Abergavenny Road in the town, without stopping, shortly after 8pm.

After buying petrol he was heading to Brynmawr, but pulled out in front of a motorbike ridden by Brian Jones, whose wife Ray was his pillion passenger.

Mr Jones braked but could not avoid hitting the back of Morgan's car. He and his wife were thrown from the bike. Mrs Jones suffered head injuries from which she died.

He will also be banned from driving for six years.

A family statement read: “Since the incident last September the person, namely Mark Morgan, has caused significant heartache to our family.

“Not only has he caused the death of our beautiful Ray, he has dragged us through court and shared no remorse whatsoever until the final moments of the trial.

“The sentence that he has been given today will have no impact on his life, whereas we have been left with a life without Ray.

“We are relieved that the CCTV has been released and shows everyone that there was clearly only one man’s actions at fault.

“We would like to thank the witnesses and would like to thank the police for their hard work and support.”

Leighton Mawer, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “By presenting eye witness accounts, collision investigation experts and CCTV, the CPS was able to portray clear evidence of the standard of Morgan’s driving.

“The prosecution case was that his manoeuvre was dangerous and the strength of evidence presented resulted in a guilty plea.  

"Morgan’s driving that evening had tragic consequences.

“We hope that Mr Jones and his family find some comfort in the conclusion of the case and our thoughts and sympathies are with them.”