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Cyclist lost leg after hit-and-run driver fled

Savannah RobertsImage source, CPS
Image caption,

Savannah Roberts has been jailed for three years and nine months following a hit-and-run

  • Published

A cyclist lost his leg after a hit-and-run driver sped off, leaving him on the roadside calling for help.

Savannah Roberts, now 27, went to great lengths to cover her tracks after the incident on Penarth Road, Cardiff, in August 2022, even selling her Ford Fiesta.

But extensive forensic work and CCTV footage that showed her going through a red light after the crash, meant police were able to arrest her.

She was jailed for three years and nine months at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting causing serious injury by careless driving and perverting the course of justice.

The court heard how Roberts, from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, hit the cyclist at 02:25 BST on 5 August, knocking him off his bike.

She initially stopped and returned to the victim, but then got back in her car and drove off, leaving him on the roadside.

He was eventually found, and taken to the city's University Hospital of Wales, before being transferred to Swansea's Morriston Hospital.

But doctors could not save his leg, and it was amputated.

Image source, South Wales Police
Image caption,

Roberts stopped and returned to the scene, before leaving the victim roadside

Roberts quickly sold her car to try and hide any links between her and the crash.

But after an extensive South Wales Police investigation, CCTV footage of her car driving through a red light and various witness statements enabled officers to link her to the hit-and-run.

Initially, she gave "no comment" answers when interviewed by police, but later admitted the offences in court.