‘I still have nightmares’: Man watched speeding car hit wife

"IT WAS a ute, the back tray smashed against her right side and threw her up in the air and she hit the concrete wall".

A CCTV image of a white ute involved in an alleged hit and run last in Tweed Heads South in 2018.

A HUSBAND who saw his wife thrown against a wall after being hit by a ute has told a court of the horror he felt seeing his wife lying in pain on the ground.

Rodney Smith was walking under the Pacific Motorway overpass on Minjunbal Drive a few steps behind his wife, Carmelina, about 8pm on July 8, 2018.

The pair had dinner at KFC in Tweed Heads South.

But the casual walk home quickly became his worst nightmare when he saw his wife, also known as Carmen, hit by a ute and thrown against the wall before crashing back down onto the ground.

The alleged driver of the ute, Danny John Maloney, 29, is before the Lismore District Court charged with failing to stop and assist after his vehicle caused grievous bodily harm.

He has pleaded not guilty.

 

Danny John Maloney is facing several charges before Lismore District Court after an alleged hit and run in Tweed Heads South in 2018.

Police claim the Murwillumbah man was the driver responsible for striking the 59-year-old woman on Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads before fleeing the scene.

It is alleged Mr Maloney mounted a kerb under the overpass near Sexton Hill Drive after failing to navigate a right hand turn in the road.

He then allegedly fled the scene.

Ms Smith suffered head and leg injuries as a result of the incident.

Speaking before the trial, Mr Smith said he was lucky he was not also hit by the speeding vehicle.

"It just missed me in old measurements by about a foot," he said.

"It was speeding because it couldn't take the corner.

"It was a ute, the back tray smashed against her right side and threw her up in the air and she hit the concrete wall."

Mr Smith said he wasn't sure exactly what speed the ute was travelling at the time but he remembered there were three vehicles passing at the time all travelling above the 60km/h speed limit.

"He did not even hesitate to slow down or anything, he went straight through a red light," Mr Smith said.

"There was bike in front of him, then there was a black car and that's when he jumped the footpath and hit Carmen and he was still chasing the other (vehicles).

"It looked like he was chasing a black car and a motorbike.

"I still have nightmares about it."

The drivers of the two other vehicles in question also gave evidence at the trial on Tuesday.

Drew Wagstaff and Alan Randall both told the court neither of them recalled any incident under the tunnel.

The court heard both men explain they'd each driven off in their respective direction of travel towards their homes once they passed through the underpass.

The court heard Mr Wagstaff and Mr Randall had also faced police prosecution for their speed on July 8, 2018.

Mr Maloney is also charged with dangerous driving and negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

He has told the court he intends to admit those charges but challenges the failing to stop and assist charge on the basis that he didn't know he struck Mrs Smith at the time and had no reason to believe he needed to come to her aid.

The trial will continue in Lismore District Court on Wednesday.

Originally published as ‘I still have nightmares’: Man watched speeding car hit wife