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A cyclist suffered a life-threatening brain injury after a driver carelessly crashed into him. A court heard Nicholas Ward, 57, who was driving an Audi A6, did not "look properly" at a junction before driving into a 40-year-old teacher. Dad of two Jonathan Seaward was an "incredibly fit, able, and healthy man in the prime of his life" before the collision, which put him in intensive care for two weeks, Newport Crown Court heard. Judge Shomon Khan. said his brain injury has improved but "there is still a long way to go before one can confidently say he has recovered," reports WalesOnline. The crash happened at 9.15am on September 11 last year at a junction of the A468 in Bedwas, Caerphilly county, as the driver and cyclist were heading in opposite directions. Ward, a self-employed mechanic from Newport, was described by one independent witness – a driver who was one lane to the left of him – as failing to stop before crossing the junction and hitting Mr Seaward. Judge Khan said: "Another independent witness was a couple of cars behind you and saw the bicycle. He was unsure but thought you probably did stop at the junction. "You didn't look properly, for whatever reason. Others at that junction – both to your left and behind you – saw the cyclist. It was an unsafe manoeuvre. "There's no suggestion that the victim in this case was in any way to blame. Those ashen-faced observers were very worried about the state the victim was in and his family must have feared the worst." Mr Seaward not only suffered a punctured lung and fractured ribs but a brain injury that still "hangs over" him, preventing him from returning to work as he and his family live in "uncertainty", said Judge Khan. The judge went on: "Everybody wants him to fully recover but the victim personal statement makes clear that nobody quite knows because of the nature of the brain injury. His life, and the life of his partner and children, is clearly not the same now." Ward, of Pentwyn Terrace in Marshfield, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving. The court heard he helped Mr Seaward at the scene before emergency services arrived. On arrest he told police he had experienced a "coughing fit" at the time of the accident. His only previous driving offences were two "minor" speeding incidents and he had never been disqualified, said his barrister Jonathan Waghorne-Brown. Ward receives personal independence payments for depression, arthritis and diabetes, and provides support to his wife who also has health issues, the barrister told the court. Judge Khan said there had been "a degree of remorse" from Ward but also some "minimisation" of his own actions. He took into account "how difficult it has been" for Ward to "come to terms" with the accident. "I note the effort that you made to assist the victim and all of the references from a number of people that think very highly of you, and that say how very much out of character this incident was," said Judge Khan. "You are culpable, you are blameworthy, but you didn't intend to cause any of this. It would be wrong, in my view, to send somebody to prison for being careless." The judge imposed an 18-week jail term suspended for a year as well as a one-year driving ban with no requirement for an extended retest. Ward must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay prosecution costs of £1,000 and a victim services surcharge of £154. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here Find crime figures for your area
