Driver who thought he hit badger had run over man

A motorist who thought he had hit a badger returned to the scene to find that he had run over a man, an inquest heard.

In a statement, Sam Edwards said he had been travelling on the A525 at Coedpoeth in Wrexham on 2 May 2023 when he suddenly saw something in the road.

When he realised his Ford Focus had been damaged he returned to the scene.

He realised he had hit Sion Jones, of Heol Bathafarn, Coedpoeth, who had suffered a brain stem injury and was confirmed as dead at the scene.

Mr Edwards said he had been travelling within the 50mph speed limit on dipped headlights when he suddenly saw something in the road.

“It seemed to be crawling or scrambling across the road and, given the rural location, I assumed it was a badger,” he said.

On the night of the collision, he said he told police that he had hit a badger on the same stretch of road a few years previously and it had caused the same amount of damage.

A post-mortem examination found that Mr Jones, 43, had 312mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The drink-drive limit is 80mg.

Forensic collision investigator Gordon Saynor told the inquest that CCTV from a site about 150m (490ft) away showed Mr Jones staggering about with a can in his hand.

He said that Mr Jones, who was wearing dark clothing, had either stumbled into the road or been lying there, and that Mr Edwards would not have been able to avoid him.

Mr Jones served for four years in 22 Regiment Royal Artillery, known as the Welsh Gunners, before returning to work as a forklift truck driver with Premier Decorations on Wrexham Industrial Estate.

He was forced to leave the role due to a back injury.

His mother, Denise Roberts, said in a statement, he had a drink problem but “seemed to have turned the corner”.

Recording a conclusion of a road traffic collision, Kate Robertson, assistant coroner for north Wales east and central, said evidence showed that Mr Jones was not upright when he was hit.

“He was intoxicated at the time,” she said.

At the time of his death, Mr Jones's family paid tribute to a "loving father, son and brother".