Driver Jailed Six Years After Crash Killed Partner, Scarred Child

A dangerous driver who killed his long-term partner and left a five-year-old child with permanent facial scarring has been jailed for six years.

Jack Llewellyn, 25, of Park Crescent, Abergavenny, lost control of his black Skoda Octavia on Greenforge Way, Cwmbran, on March 30, 2023, after “weaving” in and out of traffic at speed. The collision killed his front seat passenger Nicholas Page and seriously injured a pregnant woman’s children.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how Llewellyn was speeding up the hill and swerving to overtake when he lost control, crashing into a silver Ford C-Max containing a seven-months pregnant mother and her two young children.

The five-year-old victim suffered a 12cm to 15cm laceration to his forehead, with “skin torn away from underlying structures”, leaving him with a permanent scar across his entire upper forehead requiring indefinite treatment.

Prosecutor Matthew Roberts described it as: “This was an utterly appalling piece of driving, weaving in and out of traffic on the wrong side of the road.”

Witnesses described seeing Llewellyn’s car “racing” and performing dangerous overtaking manoeuvres before the collision that left the passenger side of his vehicle “decimated”.

Nicholas Page was declared dead at the scene. In a victim impact statement, his stepmother Julia Collins said: “Mike (Mr Page’s father) was a proud father of Nick and raised him single handedly from the age of 13…. We have an awful feeling of sadness and total disbelief thinking about it. Trying to cope with his passing and the traumatic way he died is impossible to bear.”

She added: “Our only comfort is Nick was with Jack at the time and we knew he truly loved him. Nick’s death has had a profound effect on Mike and every day we miss him. He will forever be in our thoughts.”

The injured child’s mother said the collision was “etched” in her family’s memories, stating: “(My son) suffers with being in the car and travel anxiety, has constant nightmares and is angry and frustrated about the crash and the scar across his forehead. He has low self esteem due to the scar and does not want it on show. He is very frustrated he has to have the scar forever and it won’t go.”

She added: “This was no fault of our own, we were travelling on the correct side of the road when the collision occurred.”

Defence barrister Sol Hartley said Llewellyn was “utterly devastated” by the harm he caused and is “utterly sorry” for what he did. The court heard Llewellyn himself suffered serious injuries including a brain injury, bruised heart, torn lung and fractured hip, and can now only walk a few steps with a walking frame.

Judge Simon Mills said he had watched footage of the collision with a “mounting sense of horror” before sentencing Llewellyn to six years imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Llewellyn was also disqualified from driving for 10 years upon his release from prison.