A LISKEARD man has been convicted of causing the death of a Royal Navy Air Engineering Technician in 2022.
Lawrence King, aged 31, collided with the motorbike which 21-year-old Rohan Hicks from Looe was riding on the B3252 at Horningtops on June 29 shortly before 10pm.
King, of Bay Tree Hill, was riding a red Honda FES Pantheon motorbike and travelling in convoy with three cars from Looe.
Shortly before the collision, King had overtaken a member of the public, who had to slow down when approaching a bend in order to let him safely cross back to the correct side of the carriageway.
When the convoy reached Horningtops, King decided to overtake the cars and again and crossed into the opposite carriageway.
Moments later he crashed into Rohan’s grey Lexmoto Venom, which was travelling the opposite direction. Rohan, who was from Looe, suffered fatal injuries and was sadly pronounced deceased at the scene.
King suffered life-threatening injuries, which he later recovered from.
He was interviewed by police in March 2023 where he told officers that on seeing the light coming towards him, he ‘yanked on the break’ but couldn’t get back into the correct lane in time.
He described that he had been ‘three quarters of the way’ past the second of the three cars travelling in the convoy when the collision occurred.
The forensic collision investigator who attended the scene said that the physical evidence indicated that King ‘was wholly in the incorrect lane’ at the time of the impact.
King pleaded guilty to causing death by driving without due care at a previous hearing. At Truro Crown Court on May 17 he was given a one-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and disqualified from driving for five years.
Serious Collision Investigator, PC Helen Lentern said: “This tragic case highlights the importance of conducting safe overtakes.
“Before conducting an overtake, drivers and riders must ensure the road is sufficiently clear ahead, other road users are not beginning to overtake you and there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake.
“Do not overtake if there is any doubt or where you might come into conflict with other road users.”
The family of Rohan Hicks paid tribute to him and said: “On June 29, 2022 Rohan was cruelly taken from us, our precious son. The pain of his loss is physical and emotional and comes in waves throughout every single day. “It is unbearable to accept that we will never see Rohan again.
“Many of our family try to imagine that he is on deployment and may walk back through the door again, complaining about being hungry.”
They added: “Rohan was a proud AET in the Royal Navy, as a family we are so unbelievably proud of what Rohan achieved in his very short life, he was kind, thoughtful, ambitious and driven. He lit up every room he walked into with his infectious personality, sense of humour, beautiful smile and generosity of spirit. Rohan had a good moral compass and was a credit to his family and friends.
“Rohan and our family have been robbed of a future happiness, Rohan will never marry and have the children that he wanted. Our lives will be forever poorer for not having Rohan in them, as will the people that he was yet to meet and the family that he would have had.”