For smashing into a pram and murdering a two-week-old infant boy, a hit-and-run driver was sentenced to six and a half years in jail.
James Davis, 35, collided with Ciaran Leigh Morris, an 18-month-old baby, on High Street in Brownhills, in Walsall, and then fled in his white BMW 1 Series 116d.
On Easter Sunday last year, Davis was seen driving through the streets of Brownhills when he collided with a Ford B-Max and then mounted the pavement on the opposite side of the road before crashing into the baby.
Ciaran, who was with his mother and father, Codie Holyman and Camaron Morris, was murdered when his automobile collided with them. Davis ran to his girlfriend’s house in Bloxwich and contacted the cops 40 minutes after the accident. Davis was sentenced to six and a half years in jail today after being convicted of causing the death of Ciaran Morris through hazardous driving and driving while uninsured.
After two hours and six minutes of deliberation, jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court convicted him guilty. ‘April 4 last year was a time of lockdown, but it was a gorgeous day and people took advantage of being outdoors,’ Judge John Butterfield QC said at the sentencing.
Codie Holyman and Camaron Morris were two of them. They have a lot to be thankful for. They were in the company of friends. ‘They were also with their baby Ciaran, who had been born only two weeks before.’ They were pushing him around in his new stroller. It’s understandable if they thought their future was as bright as the weather that day.
‘I’m sad to say that everything they had was ripped away from them in a matter of minutes. It was because of your conduct that this happened. ‘There was no reason for you to be driving along the main street.’ It would not have happened if Ciaran’s parent had been a few steps behind. It did, however.
Ciaran’s push chair was stuck in front of your automobile and the shop wall, and Codie’s collarbone was fractured. Ciaran’s life was cut short due to injuries he couldn’t survive.
‘You fled the scene without offering any consolation, apology, or explanation.’
‘You claimed you blacked out owing to a coughing episode, but the medical evidence showed that was highly doubtful.’
‘Over time, you became traumatized by the prospect of killing a baby.’
‘Says Codie Holyman “We were heartbroken; her broken collarbone had gone unnoticed that day, and she is now terrified of every passing car. A treasured piece of my heart will always be missing “..
‘Nothing I say or do will bring Ciaran back,’ says the narrator. Davis also had 27 prior offenses, including drunk driving, drug trafficking, and driving without insurance, according to the court.
‘Codie Holyman was 18 years old when she gave birth to Ciaran, and she was in an extraordinary state of joy,’ said prosecutor James Curtis QC.
‘When they were finally able to bring him home, he melted the family’s hearts.
‘She believes she was powerless to protect Ciaran from the events.’
Aside from that, she finds it difficult to speak about what occurred. Even after his death, she was hesitant to let him go.
She is scared of being stuck in traffic as a result of this consequence. She, like her father, attempts to carry on as best she can.
‘However, as they expressed it, a piece of their heart will always be missing.’
‘The parents believe it is critical to express to James Davis how much anguish and suffering he has experienced.’
‘If the clock could be turned back, he would do it in any manner he could,’ said defense lawyer Nicholas Syfret QC.
‘James had stated that he had passed out or had a blackout.’ According to the prosecution, that story was made up to avoid the repercussions of temporary inattention.
‘It’s not unreasonable to believe that there was some sort of impediment in the seconds leading up to the collision with the car traveling in the opposite way.’
Otherwise, no one ever explains why this accident happened.’
Davis claimed during his trial that he blacked out after a coughing fit and had no recollection of hitting Ciaran’s pram.
Davis, who was driving with a minor passenger, was allegedly speeding at 67 mph in a 30 mph zone soon before the tragic incident, according to the trial.
Following the incident, the 35-year-old fled and told a passing motorist that he’had killed a baby and was going down for a long time.’
Davis allegedly fled the scene of the accident before approaching a passer-by in Pelsall Lane and requesting them to dial 999 on their phone, according to the court.
He was apprehended after informing police he was seeing his two-year-old daughter at his girlfriend’s Bloxwich house.
‘A baby, for f***s sake,’ Davis said to PC Tom Rust as he was being arrested, according to bodycam evidence shown in court. Please accept my apologies, babe. I blacked out while driving at 20 mph.
‘I wasn’t speeding or anything.’ I went into a coma. I’ve never killed somebody on purpose. Man, f***ing hell.
‘I accept that if someone dies, I will go to prison…’ I just wanted to see my baby before I left because everyone was screaming “I killed a baby.”
Davis had cannabis in his circulation, according to tests.
In one litre of blood, he contained 1.7mg of THC. The legal limit is two milligrams. The court heard that after the crash, he had no alcohol in his system.
‘This case concerns the tragic death of an 18-day-old child by an act of exceedingly reckless and hazardous driving by this defendant, James Davis,’ prosecutor James Curtis QC said in opening the case against Davis last week.
‘He was driving a little BMW saloon through Brownhills, Walsall, in a shopping area crowded with customers and passers-by.’ The road conditions were ideal.
‘All of a sudden, he made a move that would prove fatal.’
‘First, he pulled out of his lane, crossed the center line, and collided with a car traveling in the opposite direction, on the correct side.’
‘Both cars were severely damaged as a result of this.
‘From there, the BMW veered into a curve on the wrong side of the road and onto the opposite sidewalk, where a couple was pushing their new baby, Ciaran Morris.
‘The car collided with the pushchair, or pram, before colliding with the wall and coming to a halt.’
‘It inflicted devastating injuries to that tiny child’s head and body, and despite all efforts to save him, he died in hospital soon after.’
‘You just killed my son,’ a panicked Mr Morris screamed at Davis in the aftermath of the incident.
Ciaran died as a result of head and body injuries, including a shattered skull. He was transported to Walsall Manor Hospital, but doctors were unable to re-start his heart and pronounced him dead at 5.30 p.m.
As a result of the accident, his mother, Ms Holyman, has a broken collar bone and a damaged foot, as well as severe back pain.
‘He was perfectly fit, and he was clear-headed enough, the Crown argue, to concoct what we claim is a bogus defense,’ the prosecution said of Davis.
‘The Crown claims there is no medical reason for this driving – that is a lie.’
Davis admitted to going 67 mph in a 30 mph zone during his testimony, but claimed he was driving within the speed limit at the time of the incident.
He said he passed asleep at the wheel moments before the fatal collision due to an unanticipated ‘coughing fit.’
‘The last thing I remember is getting starry-eyed,’ he told the court. I have no recollection of any of it. It’s as if everything has gone black.’