Much-loved man killed after crash in Newport on Boxing Day

Clive Rogers, 51, was riding from Rogerstone when Pauline Parnell "ploughed" into him from behind in her Mini Cooper S car. The "keen and experienced cyclist" had been dressed in a Christmas elf costume and was wearing a Santa hat over his cycling helmet. His bike had lights and reflectors on it when he was struck on the A48 near Marshfield.

Emma Rogers, his wife, who had been riding eight to 10 metres behind him, described the horrific crash. She told Cardiff Crown Court while reading her victim impact statement: "The noise of the collision will stay with me forever - it was like a bomb going off." A witness had described Parnell driving like a "boy racer" but the police investigation found she was travelling within the 50mph speed limit.

Mr Rogers was hit at around 5.20pm on the evening of Tuesday, December 26, 2023 and taken to the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff where he underwent surgery. He was pronounced dead nearly five hours later at 10.18pm after suffering multiple injuries, prosecutor Rosamund Rutter said. Judge Paul Hobson told Parnell: "Mr Rogers was clearly visible to any careful motorist.

"Your car ploughed into him, throwing him up in the air. "You failed to pay proper attention to the road ahead. "This was more than a momentary lapse of concentration."

"You are quite simply not safe to be on the road." The 76-year-old defendant, who was aged 74 at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty to causing death by carelessly driving. In her moving victim impact statement, Mrs Rogers told the court she met her future husband at work and that he had proposed to her at a castle on Lake Bled in Slovenia.

She spoke of their love of travel and how they had visited 50 countries together. Mr Rogers was an animal lover and the couple were running a rabbit sanctuary. On the day of the crash, they had been riding home to Cardiff after visiting Rogerstone to say goodbye to their friends' elderly dog Dexter who was going to be "put to sleep" in the new year.

"I feel so lost without Clive," she said. "He was my world, my everything." On being told the devastating news of his death, his wife revealed: "I will never forget the sight of the four surgeons walking down the corridor towards me." Mr Rogers' sister Dawn Rogers said her brother, who had no children of his own, was an "adored" uncle to his nieces.

Peter Donnison representing Parnell said in mitigation: "The defendant has expressed sincere and genuine remorse. "She is deeply sorry for the pain she has caused. "It is something she will have to live with for the rest of her life."

The court was told that the pensioner is in "poor health" and has no previous convictions. Parnell, of Heritage Park, Trowbridge, Cardiff was jailed for 15 months but the sentence was suspended for two years. She was disqualified from driving for three years and will have to sit an extended driving test which the judge said means she will probably never drive again.

The defendant was ordered to pay GBP1,000 prosecution costs as well as a victim surcharge.