Woman left with horrific head injury after van hit Farnworth street sign

A WOMAN was left with horrific head injuries after a van mounted a pavement and hit a road sign, sending it crashing down onto her head.

Driver Daniel Gardner claims three men in a flatbed truck were chasing him after he had earlier clipped their vehicle, with the Renault Trafic he was driving and then used the pavement in a bid to escape.

But a jury at Bolton Crown Court heard evidence from two of the passengers in the lorry, stating the van driver had refused to stop after the collision and they were following him to try and get his insurance details.

The court heard how, as the van drove up Wellington Street and reached the junction with Albert Road, Farnworth, its way was blocked by other vehicles.

CCTV footage showed the van mounting the nearside pavement and hitting a car in front as it squeezed between the vehicle and a shop wall.

The van continued driving around the blind corner on the pavement, striking a road sign at the junction, which fell on top of a pedestrian, 39-year-old Louise Owen.

Rob Hall, prosecuting, told the jury: “She was later found to have multiple fractures to her face and skull as well as a bleed on her brain.”

He added: “Daniel Gardner did not stop his van then, even though the collision with the traffic sign deflated his front nearside tyre.

“Instead he drove on for about half a mile before abandoning the van.”

At 4.23pm, less than 45 minutes after the collision, police found the vehicle in Presto Street.

“The van could easily be traced back to Daniel Gardner, something he would have known,” said Mr Hall.

At 6pm Gardner, of Moorfield Grove, Bolton, called police to claim he had been threatened by the men in the truck during the incident on January 15 last year, alleging one of them had a knife, and he had driven off to avoid them.

“I just panicked and drove off. I had to get out of there,” he said in the call.

Gardner has pleaded not guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Giving evidence in court, truck passenger Ashley Bradley, who was seen on CCTV chasing the van on foot, denied he had been aggressive towards 32-year-old Gardner.

He admitted that he tried to open the van’s doors when the vehicle’s way became blocked by traffic, but said he only wanted the driver to hand over his insurance details after the truck was badly damaged.

“I had no reason to be aggressive towards him,” said Mr Bradley.

He denied suggestions by Mark Friend, defending, that he had threatened Gardner with a knife.

“The is definitely one million per cent not true,” he said.

The trial continues.

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