‘Completely reckless’: Hit-and-run moped driver who crashed into 90-year-old pedestrian admits careless driving
Mentish's case will be heard at Blackfriars Crown Court Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
A hit-and-run moped rider who smashed into a 90-year-old man and left him with “awful injuries” pleaded guilty to careless driving today.
A 90-year-old man was hospitalised after being involved in a collision in Central Street. Picture: Google Maps - Credit: Archant
Danny O'Reilly, 23, of Skinner Street, Clerkenwell, also admitted failing to stop, failing to report a road traffic collision, driving without insurance and driving not in accordance with a licence.
John Saville was crossing Central Street to meet his son for dinner at 8.50pm on August 6, when O'Reilly crashed into him.
Bizarre scenes in Blackfriars Crown Court saw judge Mark Milliken-Smith criticise the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a lack of trial preparation.
The CPS changed an indictment against O'Reilly from GBH to dangerous driving at the last minute - something Mr Milliken-Smith said this should have been "resolved before trial".
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O'Reilly pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving but guilty to driving without due care.
In his opening, prosecutor Rory Keene said: "As he crossed the road the defendant, who accepts he was driver of the moped, struck him, causing serious injuries to his leg. The leg was completely smashed.
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"The real crux of the matter is this defendant, we say, was driving at speed in a built up residential area, this is a road lines by cafes and shops.
"The defendant came down there at some speed and also, immediately before colliding with Mr Saville, he jumped a red light - completely reckless of what's going on around him."
The court heard how a moped helmet and Nike trainer were left at the scene, and a fingerprint inside the visor of the former provided "a forensic link" to O'Reilly.
Mr Keene suggested O'Reilly wouldn't have fled the scene, leaving the injured pensioner and his possessions on the road, if he hadn't have been in the wrong.
The defendant was interviewed at Islington Police station, where he answered "no comment" to all questions.
O'Reilly has already pleaded guilty to possession of drugs in a separate case, and he'll be sentenced for both at Isleworth Crown Court on December 5.
