A DRIVER has today been found guilty over the death of an 18-day-old boy who died after he ploughed into the tot’s pram.
James Paul Davis, 35, was driving at twice the 30mph speed limit when he smashed into Ciaran Leigh Morris on his first-ever outing.
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Dad Camaron Morris was heard shouting “you just killed my son” as the pram was pinned against a shop wall.
He and partner Codie Holyman also screamed “the baby, the baby” as the horror unfolded.
Davis has now been found guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court of causing death by dangerous driving.
There were gasps of relief from Ciaran’s family as the verdict was delivered after just two hours and six minutes deliberation.
Jurors heard he mounted the kerb in Walsall, West Mids, after clipping a white Ford B-Max.
The uninsured driver fled the scene before telling a passer-by he had “killed a baby” and would be “going down for a long time”.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard he then called police and claimed he passed out at the wheel after suffering a coughing fit.
Witness Dean Athersmith told the court how he heard Davis call his girlfriend after the crash on Easter Sunday last year.
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He said: “[Davis] said ‘I’ve just run someone over, I need to phone my missus, I am going to go down for a long time’.
“I wouldn’t give him my phone, but I put the phone number in my phone. The number just rang out and then he tried again and a woman answered.
“He told her ‘I’m really sorry I’ve ran over a baby, I’ve killed it, please look after my baby’ which made me think he had a child.
“When he got off the phone I asked him why he left the scene he said, ‘They after me’.
“It was like he wanted me to stay with him but I told him I had to go and he ran off.”
Davis was arrested at his girlfriend’s home as he “wanted to see my baby before I go”.
He told a police officer: “A baby, f***s sake. I’m sorry bab. I blacked out, I was doing 20mph.”
Bodycam footage played to jurors showed him telling officers how he “aint killed no one on purpose”.
James Curtis, QC, prosecuting, said the driver was “fully fit, heavily built and he was clear headed enough to invent an excuse”.
Tests found he had cannabis in his system but it was below the legal limit, it was said.
Ciaran was rushed to hospital but died just hours later from injuries to his head and body.
Mum Codie suffered a broken collar bone and a bruised foot in the crash and has constant back pain, jurors heard.
Davis, of Bloxwich, West Mids, denied causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while uninsured and causing death by careless driving.
He will be sentenced today.
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