Shocking footage shows hit-and-run driver smash into grandad on moped at Whitfield roundabout, near Dover
Additional reporting by KentOnline Court Reporter Shocking dashcam footage captures the moment a hit-and-run driver without a licence smashed into a moped and left a grandad lying unconscious in the road. Marcus Kent suffered two punctured lungs and several broken bones after being knocked from his Vespa at the Whitfield roundabout, near Dover.
The self-employed 65-year-old - who runs a burger van with his wife - was unable to work for months, still struggles with his injuries and has been robbed of his beloved scooter. But Tyler Keyes, 24, who fled in his girlfriend's BMW, walked free from court after being handed a suspended prison sentence. Mr Kent told KentOnline this week: "I don't believe the punishment fits the crime.
"As far as he knew, I could have been dead - but he still chose to drive off." The grandfather-of-seven had been enjoying a sunny Saturday afternoon on June 28 when his wife Nicola asked him to pop to the shops for bread and crisps.
He had just washed his Vespa, so he decided to ride it from their home in Deal to Tesco Extra in Whitfield rather than take the car.
"Most weekends I would go out for a ride," he said. "People meet on Sundays at Deal Pier and I'd join them. But obviously I don't anymore."
At about 3pm, as Mr Kent rode home with his shopping on the back, Keyes pulled out of the BP garage at the roundabout in a BMW 116 without looking. Dashcam footage from another driver shows the car ploughing straight into the moped, which had right of way. "He just came straight through me and carried on," Mr Kent said.
"He hit the front wheel and mudguard of the bike - snapped it away from me.
My face hit the ground first." The impact knocked Mr Kent unconscious, leaving him face down in the carriageway as traffic continued to pass on both sides. It was only when a heavily pregnant woman who had been driving behind him rushed over and rolled him onto his front that he came round.
"She said when she walked over to me, she thought I was dead, lying face down and not moving," he said.
"On the day of the accident, I couldn't believe that no one had run over me.
Picture: Marcus Kent
Picture: Marcus Kent
"I thought: 'How did I survive that?' "I was very lucky. It could have been far, far worse."
Another woman held his hand while they waited for an ambulance. Mr Kent was taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, where he spent five days - including on a respiratory ward after doctors discovered both his lungs had been punctured.
"I was in a lot of pain until I got to the hospital," he said.
"They put me on morphine. My wife thought I was dying when she first arrived."
Mr Kent had also broken his collarbone and six ribs, and suffered cuts and bruises to his face, arms, hands and legs. The injuries left him unable to work for three months and forced the closure of M&N Snack Bar on the Sandwich bypass, as he could not hitch the trailer with his arm in a sling. His Vespa - which he had owned for five years - was written off.
Because Keyes was uninsured, Mr Kent had to claim on his own policy and received only half the ?5,000 needed to replace it.
"It's cost me financially too," Mr Kent said.
"I loved that scooter. He has taken one of my little pleasures." Keyes, of St Radigunds Road, Dover, was traced by police at home about two hours after the crash.
He later admitted four offences: causing serious injury by careless driving, failing to stop after an accident, driving without a licence and driving without insurance. Folkestone Magistrates' Court heard he only held a provisional licence and the BMW belonged to his partner.
Lorraine Dewar, prosecuting, said: "He pulled out from the garage and squeezed in between a vehicle and didn't look and drove into the path of the moped, knocking the rider off - and he didn't stop and drove off.
"During a voluntary interview, the defendant made no comment." Defending, Mark Trafford described the roundabout as "horrendous" and said the crash was caused by "a momentary lack of concentration".
"He was aware of the collision, but he accepts he drove home, to a safe place, as he put it," he said. Magistrates jailed Keyes for eight months, suspended for 18 months, after taking into account his previous good character and early guilty pleas.
He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, attend 12 rehabilitation sessions and was banned from driving for 14 months.
Keyes was told to pay Mr Kent ?1,682 in compensation, plus a ?154 victim surcharge and ?85 costs, at a rate of ?50 a month. But Mr Kent doubts he will ever see the money.
KentOnline revealed last week that the amount of money owed by criminals to the county's courts had tripled in a decade to ?56 million, with ?6 million of compensation for victims. "I don't really believe I'm going to get the money," he said.
"He got banned from driving - but he didn't have a licence in the first place. So that's not going to affect him.
"He can just walk away from it. I believe the sentence was quite lenient." Eight months on, his collarbone is still broken and he cannot sleep on his left side.
And even if he could afford another Vespa, he says the ordeal has taken away his confidence to ride again.
"Doing what he did has taken that away from me," he said.