The court heard Noel Crowley’s wife of seven decades, Anne, slept each night with the hat he was wearing when he was knocked down
A much-loved family man and community stalwart was killed by a drug-driver as he walked to church, a court has heard.
Former Neath Port Talbot Council leader Noel Crowley was hit as he crossed the road by Zack Mason, an unaccompanied learner driver who was over the legal cannabis limit for driving. The 86-year-old was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court described Mr Crowley as a “much loved and much respected” man who was “know by many, and held in high esteem by all”.
Hannah George, prosecuting, told the court that the fatal incident happened in Port Talbot at around 5.30pm on December 7 last year.
She said Mason, who was aged 20 at the time and driving his mother’s Skoda Fabia car, pulled out of the car park of Blanco’s hotel and drove some 25 metres along Water Street before striking Mr Crowley as he was crossing the road.
Members of the public rushed to assist the injured man before he was rushed to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff with severe head injuries. He died three days later.
Meanwhile, Mason had been arrested at the scene, and the court heard that a subsequent blood test showed he had 2.3mg of cannabis in 100ml of blood, the legal limit being two. For the latest court stories sign up to our crime newsletter
In his police interview, Mason said a fellow motorist had “flashed” him out of the car park and that his attention had been drawn to the other driver as he thanked him. He told officers he had last consumed cannabis two days before the incident.
In a family statement read to the court, Mr Crowley was described as a man of “fairness and compassion” and great generosity, and as a champion of social equality.
Mr Crowley – who was awarded CBE, Deputy Lieutenant, Order of St John, Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice, and Freeman of the Borough – was described as “the man who kept our world turning” who is “missed in every tiny detail of the day”.
The court heard Mr Crowley’s wife of seven decades, Anne, slept each night with the hat he was wearing when he was knocked down.
Zack Mason, now aged 22, of Lorraine Close, Sandfields, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the legal limit of a specified drug, and to causing death while driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence when he appeared in the dock for sentencing.
The court heard he gained a provisional driving licence in April, 2021, but the following year it was revoked after he was caught driving without insurance.
David Singh, for Mason, said the defendant took full responsibility for his actions and acknowledged the devastation he had caused to Mr Crowley’s family.
He said his client had desisted from the use of cannabis since the day of the incident and that was a situation he would endeavour to maintain.
The barrister said it was not a case, for example, where the defendant had been speeding or been using his mobile phone, but said Mason had “clearly not been concentrating” resulting in “devastating consequences”.
Judge Huw Rees said the deceased was a “much loved loved and much respected” man who was “know by many, and held in high esteem by all”. He said no sentence a court could impose could mark the value of a life lost, and nor was it intended to.
With a one-third discount for his guilty pleas Mason was sentenced to four years in prison. He will serve up to half the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
The defendant was banned from driving for a total of seven years and must pass an extended test before he can get a licence.
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