Anthony Gilham from Swanley, father of British motorsports racing driver Tony Gilham, jailed after hit-and-run on A249 near Stockbury
A 70-year-old van driver who left a biker lying in a ditch with multiple fractures to his ribs, spine and shoulder in a hit-and-run has been jailed. Anthony Gilham, father of British motorsports racing driver Tony Gilham, ploughed into experienced motorcyclist Mark White on the A249 near Stockbury[1] on the afternoon of May 13, 2023.
Maidstone Crown Court heard the pensioner had initially ignored clear markings, signage and layout to drive the wrong way out of the Chalky Road junction onto the northbound carriageway, and then instead of turning left to join the flow of traffic, he crossed over the central reservation and into the slip road solely designated for those vehicles wanting to leave the southbound side. Then, without pausing in his Renault Master van to check for oncoming vehicles, he pulled out and into the path of Mr White's BMW S1000 machine as he rode at about 50mph.
Gilham was said to have shown such a lack of attention that a witness later told police they thought he had collided with the biker on purpose. Although this was not the case, Gilham failed to stop at the scene, leaving the stricken biker and crash debris behind him. It was not until seven days later that police, aware that a white van with green markings had been involved in the collision, spotted the damaged vehicle and pulled the meat trader over.
Rather than come clean, however, Swanley resident Gilham lied that his van had been hit while in a works yard.
Picture: Google
Then, when challenged about that account, he admitted he had been in a collision on the A249 but said he believed it involved a Range Rover, something he later repeated to the author of a report prepared for his sentencing hearing.
And it was when the married grandfather appeared in court yesterday (Thursday, August 7) to learn his fate that Judge Oliver Saxby KC said if it had not been for the alertness of the police officers who spotted his van, he may have got away with what he had done. Furthermore, the judge told the married grandfather he could have killed Mr White - and, in considering the impact of a prison sentence on others, he dismissed his family's claims that his wife would be made homeless. The moment of the horror smash, which occurred at about 2.50pm on what was a bright and dry day, was caught on a following vehicle's dashcam and showed how Mr White was unable to avoid being hit.
Prosecutor James Harrison said that while two motorists stopped to help him and call the emergency services, Gilham continued to drive, ignoring a layby into which he could have pulled over. It was later discovered that he had been trying to get to his son's commercial unit near the Detling Showground with his van-load of meat products he had bought that morning.
Having driven from West Kingsdown along the M20, he found the A249 exit closed due to roadworks, so headed back to the A229 Blue Bell Hill junction and drove northbound to join the M2. However, once on the motorway, he again found the junction onto the A249 to be shut and so followed a route that took him along country lanes and eventually Chalky Road.
The court was told that having then reached the northbound carriageway, he could have driven up to the Stockbury roundabout and doubled back but instead took his dangerous "short cut" onto the southbound carriageway, with devastating consequences.
Mr White suffered nine broken ribs, a collapsed lung, fractures to his spine and right shoulder, and extensive bruising to his chest, right hip and leg. He spent eight days in London's King's College Hospital and then underwent a significant period of rehabilitation. The court heard he had to sleep in a reclining chair for four months due to the pain he felt when lying flat and, more than two years on, is still recovering.
The crash not only impacted the company director physically, mentally and financially, but also his love of motorcycling, something he described as being his "great enjoyment" in life.
Stock picture
In a statement read to the court, Mr White said he had "questioned so many times" how such a serious collision occurred and how the van driver "fled the scene as if nothing had happened".
He also spoke of being haunted by the "loud bang" of the moment he was hit, being diagnosed with post-traumatic arthritis in his knees and shoulder, and having to attend regular hospital appointments. The court heard it was the dashcam footage and crash debris which enabled police to identify the van, and which was then spotted by chance near Swanley a week later with Gilham at the wheel. Having initially lied about the collision, he then told officers that he had stopped further down the road at the entrance of Detling Aerodrome Estate, claiming there had been no opportunity to pull over sooner.
Gilham, of Wansbury Way, subsequently pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, failing to stop and failing to report an accident.
The court heard he had been driving since obtaining his licence in 1971 and, aside from a six-month ban under the "totting up" of points for speeding offences about six or seven years ago, was of previous good character with no criminal convictions. His lawyer, Peter Cruickshank, expressed Gilham's remorse for the collision and offered an apology to Mr White on his behalf, saying: "I asked him today what it was he would say to Mr White and he says this: 'I'm really sorry. I should never have done it.
I'm really sorry about what I put him through....I wish I can turn it back but I can't.'." Described as a family man with many positive aspects, Mr Cruickshank explained how Gilham was still having to work into his late 60s due to the collapse of his once-successful meat trading business which saw him supplying caterers and hotels in London and Kent. His financial loss involved having to sell the family home, live in rented accommodation and not be able to afford retirement.
On the day in question, he found himself on a "tiresome" journey as he tried to reach his son's business unit off the A249.
Having accepted he could have simply joined the northbound carriageway at Chalky Road instead of cutting across the junction, Mr Cruickshank said: "He shouldn't have done it. It was a terrible mistake."
Among those supporting him at the hearing were his wife, daughter and son, Tony, who founded Team HARD. Racing and competed in the British Touring Car Championship.
Urging that the pensioner could be made subject to a suspended sentence order, Mr Cruickshank cited the defendant's realistic prospect of rehabilitation, remorse, poor health and guilty pleas, as well as the delay in court proceedings and the significant impact on others of immediate custody. But the assertion, backed up by evidence given by Gilham's son and daughter from the witness box that there was "no firm plan in place" to accommodate his wife or assist financially, was rejected by Judge Saxby, who said he did not accept the premise that they could not help and would, he remarked, "leave Mrs Gilham on the streets". On explaining that appropriate punishment could only be met by immediate imprisonment - a decision met with sobs from Gilham's family - the judge told him that not only had he demonstrated "an appalling standard" of driving but that his victim would have been visible and the collision avoided had he paused to look before joining the carriageway "without a moment's hesitation".
He said Gilham's failure to stop in the knowledge there had been "some sort" of collision, and as Mr White lay badly injured, "compounded" matters.
In weighing up the aggravating and mitigating factors, Judge Saxby concluded: "In the end, it boils down to whether appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody. "The decisive factors for me are, first, the high level of danger associated with what you did and, second, your failure to stop. "The first speaks for itself - you could have killed Mr White and as it was you risked seriously harming other road users travelling along the A249 or negotiating the slip road across the carriageway.
"As to the second, had you stopped, you could have tended to Mr White, called the police and been in a position to assist them when they arrived.
"But you did not and were only apprehended by the alertness of officers who saw your damaged van. Had they not been so alert, you may well have got away with it. "Your counsel has said everything that could be said on your behalf.
If this process was all about you, and your family, my sentence might be a different one. "But I have a wider duty and, in my judgment, this is a case where appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody." Gilham, who has not driven since the smash, was jailed for 22 months and banned from the road for four years and 11 months.
The offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving carries a maximum of five years' imprisonment.
Although the court was told he has no plans to get behind the wheel again, he was ordered to take an extended driving test to regain his licence.
References
- ^ ploughed into experienced motorcyclist Mark White on the A249 near Stockbury (kentonline.co.uk)