Josh Osborne: driver jailed two years for Orpington death

David Lockyer, 75, had been drinking when he ploughed into schoolboy Josh Osborne as he crossed the road, and then tried to flee the scene.

The football and boxing loving youngster died two days later. His heartbroken mother wept in court as Lockyer was sentenced

Lockyer was chased down and confronted by another driver who saw him speed away.

He then attempted to drive around the other motorist before eventually coming back, the court heard.

Lockyer failed to give a breathalyser test when police arrived, claiming it was hard for him to breathe into the machine following a heart operation 30 years ago.

A court today heard how, almost two years on from the fatal crash in April 2019, he “still finds it hard to accept responsibility.”

Court Road

Lockyer, of Orpington, was previously found guilty of causing death by careless driving and causing death while driving a motor vehicle while unlicensed following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court in November.

Today, at the same court, he was handed two-year prison terms for each offence - to run at the same time.

He was also banned from driving for three years from the point of his earliest possible release date in one year’s time.

Evidence presented at his trial showed his licence expired months before and, despite being an MOT examiner and claiming he only realised five days prior to the crash and was applying for a new one, he still got behind the wheel.

The jury heard from a collision investigator that Lockyer was driving at 46mph in a 40mph zone and started breaking just 0.4 seconds before the fatal collision in Orpington.

Lockyer admitted seeing two other children run across the road and described a “near miss” but didn’t slow down.

James Brown, prosecuting, told the court Lockyer showed "reckless disregard" for the children and thought the youngsters were playing “chicken.”

The judge was told Lockyer had a habit of stopping at a pub on his way home for two and a half pints each night.

Mr Brown added: "He was under the influence after the collision and displayed in it a lack of judgement of speed, distance, risk, and overconfidence."

Lockyer stood in the dock wearing a baggy green fleece, blue knitted jumper, and a black mask.

Sentencing him, Judge Jonathan Mann QC said: “There were drivers on the road who reacted sooner to the presence of children and, while I must not speculate, it is a reasonable inference that if you had not been drinking you may well have noticed Josh sooner.

“You left the public house and almost immediate accelerated to about 46mph, the speed limit at all times was 40mph. You maintained this speed until about half a second before your car struck Josh.

“0.4 seconds before the collision your car was still travelling at 46mph. The expert evidence was that you should the very last have been able to see Josh from 50 metres away.

“You accelerated to 45 mph straight afterwards you claimed, in vain, that there was nowhere to stop but there plainly was and you could simply have stopped where you were.

“So concerned was another driver that he followed you. You stopped at a traffic light 800 metres away. He said, and I accept, you tried to drive around him.

“After a short pursuit you turned around and returned to the scene.

“You were described as being unsteady on your feet and attempts were made to breathalyse you.

“I have seen the body worn footage and It is clear the officers felt you were not doing your best.

“You claimed you had difficulty breathing into the machine from a heart operation 30 years earlier.

"You should have never been on the road anyway. Your driving licence had expired months earlier. You said in evidence you only realised this five days earlier but knew you did, and continued to drive regardless."

Members of the family sat in the public gallery, several wearing black t-shirts emblazoned with a gold heart and the words “Joshy’s Heart of Gold Trust” - a charity set up by mum Victoria Battman in the youngster's memory.

The mum-of-four wept as heartbreaking statements from the family were read out.

Reading her statement, prosecutor James Brown said: “Our beautiful, kind, and loving son Josh was taken from us at the hands of Mr Lockyer.

“The impact is so overwhelming it’s hard to put into words.

“We just feel this huge loss and pain constantly as we miss having him around.

“Nothing will ever stop the pain.

“This is truly heartbreaking, unbearable, we don’t know how we find a way through each day at a time trying to cope.

“The damage that has been done to my family can never been fixed.

“He was kind and talented, a loving son who cared for everyone and who everyone loved.”