Man (88) who left motorcyclist with life-changing injuries ‘done with driving’

William Kane was hit with a six-month suspended prison sentence and banned from the roads for five years after he turned right - straight into the path of an oncoming motorbike leaving the rider wedged under the pensioner’s car.

The victim was left with several broken bones and spent four months in hospital and still requires continual care – four years after the crash.

While a judge hit the 88-year-old with the lengthy drive ban and asked him to consider never driving again there’s nothing in theory stopping him getting back behind the wheel after his ban – by which time he’ll be 93.

But speaking to the Sunday World, Mr Kane said he was “extremely sorry” for the injuries caused to the motorcyclist and confirmed he’d hung up his driving gloves.

“No, my driving days are over, I won’t ever drive a car again,” he said. “I have too much pain in my hips anyway.

“I’m extremely sorry for what happened and the injuries the man was left with. I can’t explain how it happened or how I didn’t see him because it was a completely clear day.

“I’ve no idea how it happened. He hit my car right in the front bumper, it didn’t seem possible but it happened, I did it and it was my fault.”

Mr Kane, from the Ballaghmore Road in Portballintrae in Antrim had earlier admitted causing grievous bodily injury to Simon Osborne by driving carelessly on January 2, 2019.

Prosecuting counsel Michael Chambers told the court that at about 2.20 that afternoon, Mr Kane was driving his Ford Fiesta, had just left Bushmills village and intended to turn right off the Dunluce Road towards Portballintrae when the accident occurred.

It was when he turned right, said the lawyer, that he failed to see Mr Osborne coming the opposite way on his Husquavana SuperMoto motorbike, “pulling directly into the path of the victim who has right of way.”

Mr Osborne tried to brake but the bike fell to the side and he slides along the road, ending up wedged underneath the Ford Fiesta and unable to move until passing motorists were able to jack the pensioner’s car up and pull him free.

The victim, the court heard, sustained numerous serious injuries including “a broken sternum, femur, hip, pelvis, collapsed lungs, broken left elbow and arm” and as a result, he was air lifted to Royal Victoria Hospital by the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance Service.

Revealing how Mr Osborne spent four months in hospital including a significant period in intensive care, Mr Chambers said he required numerous surgeries and treatments and “still requires ongoing continual care and treatment.”

Arrested and interviewed Mr Kane, who served in the Army in his younger days where he was promoted to sergeant, said he “simply did not see the motorbike prior to turning.”

“He stated if he had have seen it, he would not have made the turn and apologised for his actions and wished the victim and the rider well,” the court heard.

Passing sentence, Judge Devlin told Mr Kane that although his “impeccable character,” completely clear driving record and good public service record were mitigating features, nevertheless “not merely a momentary lapse of concentration.”

“The approaching motorcyclist didn’t just drop out of the sky,” said the judge, “there was a clear view, no obstructions or impediments to vision, good weather and good road conditions…he was easily capable of being seen and should have been seen.”

Describing the injuries Mr Osborne sustained as “particular serious,” Judge Devlin said it was “simply a mercy that there wasn’t a death - there could quite easily have been.”

Along with the six month sentence handed to Mr Kane, which Judge Alistair Devlin suspended for two years, he also imposed a five year driving ban and strongly advised the pensioner to consider that “your days of driving have almost inevitably come to an end.”

Mr Kane told the Sunday World: “I can’t change what has happened. I wasn’t worried about going to jail because I didn’t want to dwell on the negatives. It is what it is. I can’t change it.

“I wrote out a long apology to the other driver, I can’t do anything more.”

Steven.moorE@sundayworld.com