A NEW series of Crash Detectives has begun on BBC – showcasing the work of Gwent Police’s collision team.

In the first episode of the third series, aired on Tuesday, September 28, the team investigate a crash on the M4 J29 which closed the road in both directions – and how the victim captured his killer’s movements just minutes before the crash.

It follows the crash investigation team’s PC Tony Parker and PC Ritchie Wyatt as they head to a possible fatal three-car crash near J29 of the M4 eastbound just outside Newport on June 21, 2018.

On arriving at the scene, the emergency services are working to save those involved in the crash and the lanes have been closed to allow for the Wales Air Ambulance to land.

The victim was Jeffrey Paul Williams, a 56-year-old man from Cwmbran who was hit from behind and shunted forwards into the back of another car. He died at the scene despite paramedics working to save him.

Witnesses on the programme described how the traffic was quite heavy and almost at a standstill during the rush hour crash near where the dual carriageway merges with the M4.

During the investigation into the crash, witnesses told the investigators how the orange Honda car was driving and not seeming to slow before going into the back of the black Perodua car. The driver of the Honda was taken to hospital.

The investigation continues as investigators work out exactly what happened to lead to the crash. After pinpointing the point of impact, they continue to examine tire tracks and debris to work out the course of events.

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After five and a half hours at the scene and evidence collected, the officers are able to begin to open the road as the investigation moves to a garage for a more detailed look at the cars.

They find, by putting the mangled cars together, they are able to work out how the orange Honda went into the back of the victim’s black car before it being shunted into the back of the Audi in front.

The episode also shows police interview footage with the driver of the Honda car and Gwent Police officers trying to work out the exact events with very little details – after they find the dashcam in the victim’s car didn’t have an SD card in it.

There weren’t many leads as the crash happened on a blind spot between two of the traffic cameras on the junction so they were unable to use that to get a clearer picture.

The driver of the Honda said the traffic was flowing freely and he was in sixth gear and on cruise control and braked right before he went into the back of the car. The impact of the crash into the black car pushed it forward 46 metres.

A breakthrough in the investigation comes when another search of the black car finds the SD card for the dashcam. The footage shows the traffic around slowing, including the Audi, but cuts out before the black car hits the Audi due to the collision from the Honda.

 

However, earlier footage from around two miles before the crash scene, shows the Honda in front of the black car, veering between lanes and driving along the dashed lines between lanes one and two. The driver of the Honda is shown the footage but cannot explain why he was driving in that manner.

Medical searches and analysis of mobile devices in the Honda came back clear – he wasn’t distracted by using a mobile or by any medical issues as while he suffered from diabetes, his blood sugar levels were normal at the time.

The CCTV footage from Traffic Wales’ cameras at other points on the motorway provide the investigators with footage in the moments before the crash and finds that after the black car overtakes the Honda, there’s six seconds between both cars when the road was clear, but it went into busy traffic and the Honda driver, who was in cruise control, had 400m before hitting the black car and 12 seconds to react to what was happening with the change in conditions.

It was later revealed that the driver of the Honda, who had been driving from 5am that morning for around 12 hours, had collapsed earlier that morning due to his blood sugar levels being low but continued to drive after he ate and felt better.

He denied causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty. The judge presiding over the case said that his decision to drive after collapsing put other road users at substantial risk long before the collision itself.

He was given a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

PC Parker said: “All the way through he could not provide a plausible explanation of why he didn’t see what was happening ahead of him and somebody has paid the ultimate price and lost their life.

Crash Detectives airs on Tuesdays at 8.30pm on BBC One Wales. In tonight's episode, they are at the scene of a crash involving a car and a motorbike.

In tonight's episode, which airs at 8.30pm on BBC1 Wales, detectives investigate an accident in which a pedestrian was left seriously injured after being struck by a car in a residential street. Police are suspicious over the teenaged driver's version of events.