Reckless E-bike rider who killed pensioner jailed

Bart O’Hare, described by his family as “the glue to our family” and a much-loved member of the local community, was on his way to collect fish and chips on the evening of 22 March 2024.

It was a simple trip to the chip shop that so many of us will make. Sadly, he never made it home.

As Mr O’Hare began to cross Accrington Road, having looked both ways, he was hit by Dylan Green, 20, who was riding a SurRon e-bike with a passenger on the back. Neither was wearing a helmet.

Moments earlier, Green had been seen weaving across the carriageway and performing a wheelie. Prosecutors told Preston Crown Court that he was travelling more than 40 per cent faster than other vehicles on the 30mph stretch of road.

Indeed, in the moments that led up to the fatal crash, Green had pulled another wheelie, with onlookers stating that his front wheel had only just touched back down to earth, seconds before he struck Mr O’Hare.

After the collision, Green and his passenger fell from the bike, but immediately picked it up and fled the scene, mounting the pavement to get away. The Surron has never been recovered.

Mr O’Hare was left seriously injured on the road and was soon taken to the hospital. Sadly, despite the intervention of doctors, he died on 31 March.

Green, of Helston Close, Burnley, was arrested later that evening after first going home to tell his family about the crash, then returning to the scene to identify himself.

He later pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, driving without insurance, and driving without a licence. He was sentenced to eight years and three months in a young offenders’ institution, with an additional 12-month concurrent sentence for a drugs offence.

Green was also banned from driving for more than 12 years.

In a Victim Impact Statement read to the court, Mr O’Hare’s daughter spoke of her father’s central role in their family:

“You have taken the glue to our family, the man in our lives who would guide us whenever we needed. He was a man of the community. This is not just our loss — people looked up to my dad.”

“Your selfish attitude was to try and diminish your actions by leaving my dad to suffer so you could get rid of the bike. If you had rung an ambulance instead, today may hold a different outcome for us all.”

Speaking after sentencing, Sergeant Paul McCurrie of Lancashire Police’s Roads Policing Unit said:

“Bart was clearly a much-loved dad and grandad and was well respected in his community. Dylan Green rode his e-bike without a care for those around him. He was showing off, performing a wheelie just before he collided with Bart.

“He didn’t stay at the scene, call for help, or identify himself to police. Instead, he fled, continuing to drive dangerously in an attempt to cover up his actions.

“Driving in the way Green did is not and never will be acceptable. When the worst-case scenario happens, as it did on that day, it leaves behind devastation to more people than you might imagine.

“My thoughts remain with Bart’s loved ones. No sentence will bring him back, but I hope they can feel some sense of justice today.”

The case once again brings the use of illegally ridden motorcycles into sharp focus. While it is more often than not the rider of the bike, or, as was the case with Dean Barnes, the pillion that comes to harm, in this instance, a totally innocent member of the public has lost their life.

The use of illegally ridden motorcycles, be they petrol or electrically powered, on the streets of the UK is becoming a crisis. It’s scary to think about how many more members of the public will have to be killed or injured before a more serious stance on the matter is taken.

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