This isn't a sob story about me but every driver should hear this
'I glanced in the mirror and saw her walking off down the pavement. I had no idea that this would be the last time I would ever see her'
Allan Bradford was devoted to his wife Catherine
(Image: Supplied by Allan Bradford )
Allan Bradford continues to 'dread' coming home to an empty house, cooking for himself and going to bed alone without his beloved wife. Catherine, 52, was out jogging along High Street in Dowlais on September 19, 2022, when Alex Rickwood lost control of the MG ZR car he was uninsured to drive, mounted the pavement, and killed her.
According to witnesses the car reached speeds of 'between 50 and 60 mph', before the killer lost control of it on a sweeping bend at the brow of the hill, over-corrected his error and smashed into a lamppost.
Catherine's husband Allan is now speaking out in hope that the tragedy will serve as a warning to other 'senseless' motorists.
Rickwood, of Wern Isaf in Dowlais, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday to five years and five months in prison having previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving with no insurance while using a fraudulent trade plate. Read more about the sentencing here. The 32-year-old was also disqualified from driving for more than seven years.
It was heard how hobbyist mechanic Rickwood - who also worked at the Ford dealership in Merthyr Tydfil - took his mate's car to get new petrol because it had been misfiring.
After stopping at the Esso garage in Penydarren, Rickwood drove off and accelerated up a hill to 'test' the engine.
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It was only after the crash that Rickwood realised he had hit and killed innocent jogger Catherine, who was just '30 yards' into her run after her husband Allan Bradford dropped her off.
Almost three years on from that traumatic day Allan has opened up about life since.
Although it is still incredibly painful for him to talk about what happened, he said he is doing so in the hope that it encourages people to drive safely
'This isn't a sob story about me,' he said. 'The reason I want to speak out and share this is so that hopefully at least one of these people notices and gets some understanding of how it changes so many lives. That's the only positive we can get out of this.'
Cath lit up the room with her beautiful smile
(Image: Supplied by Allan Bradford )
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Describing what happened that day, he told WalesOnline: 'On that occasion she was supposed to go for a jog on Sunday as she usually did, but that afternoon she said she didn't feel like it.
'She ended up going on the Monday instead. At around 4pm she said she didn't really feel like it but wanted to push herself to go for a run. A little while later she came downstairs with her jogging kit on and told me to put the oven on in around half an hour once I had dropped her off.
'I always took her to Goat Mill Road near the roundabout and she ran on the left hand side of the road. On this occasion she said let's go another way for a change and said to drop her off in the layby rather than where I normally do.'
On their way Allan said the pair popped in to see her mam and dad, where the family joked together about Catherine's bright pink running gear - which she purposely wore to keep herself safe.
Allan said in a victim impact statement read out to the court on Monday: 'I remember her mam commenting on how brightly dressed she was and said she should have put her sunglasses on. Cath lit up the room with her beautiful smile and said: 'Well I'm never going to get run over dressed like this am I!'
'Those words will stay with me for the rest of my life. We didn't stay long, probably 15 minutes or so. She said her goodbyes and I drove her up to Dowlais high street, to drop her off.
'Before she opened the door she said: 'Give me a kiss,' which I did, and as she got out of the car, she told me to put the oven on 30 minutes after I get back home so she could prepare our tea when she gets back.
'As I pulled away, I glanced in the mirror and saw her walking off down the pavement. I had no idea that this would be the last time I would ever see her.'
Allan said Catherine 'didn't get 30 yards' before she was hit.
He told WalesOnline the heartbreaking way in which he and Catherine's daughter Megan received the news.
He said: 'Around 10 minutes after the hour passed Meg came downstairs and said: 'Mammy is late and isn't home'. We rang her a few times and she didn't answer, so we started worrying at that point and we both jumped into the car to retrace Cath's steps.
'As I got to the roundabout near The Bessemer Hotel, there was a police car across the road and the road was shut off. Meg was with me and we pulled over.
'We spoke to a police officer and said Cath had been for a run and hadn't come back yet. He asked for a description, which we gave, and then he said: 'We can tell you there has been an incident and a runner has been killed'.
'His colleague came down and told us the runner fitted Cath's description. It was traumatic to say the least. It was horrendous.'
Megan Thomas with her mam Catherine Bradford
(Image: Megan Thomas )
He said the aftermath of what happened was 'horrific'. He explained: 'It just seems too unreal for it to be real, since the day it happened and ever since. I struggle to believe it has happened even to this day. It doesn't get easier.
'It is every bit as raw and painful today as it was [then]. If anything it has got harder because of the reality that she is not about anymore.
'It's like you are stuck in one of those dreams that you are not enjoying and it's going around and around in your head and it won't stop. It's still as raw as ever.
'The way in which we lost her was traumatic to say the least. I[still] dread coming home to an empty house, cooking for myself and going to bed alone. There have been a lot of ups and downs and I have had counselling.
In recent months Allan said the family have had to endure the added difficulty of preparing for the court case, which had taken two years to reach the first hearing.
Although this was not the fault of Rickwood, the defendant initially pleaded guilty to dangerous driving which led to further delays and saw the family face having to prepare for a trial.
However, Rickwood changed his plea to guilty in May which avoided the trial and resulted in the sentencing on Monday.
Allan said: 'It would have been two years and eight months since it happened when we should have been in court [for the trial], but two days before that he changed his plea
'It was naughty of him to change his plea just two days before the trial was supposed to happen. We all as a family had mentally prepared ourselves up to that point to go through the whole trial, then this happened two working days before. It was quite cruel to put us through that really.
'[More recently] we had the police here, the liaison officer and chief investigating officer, going through things with us in preparation for the sentencing, so that details that come out in court don't come as such a shock to us.
'It was very upsetting to go through that. We were told details that surprised us and that we didn't previously know. We were shown CCTV footage, which was really tough.
Reaching out to drivers before they get behind the wheel, Allan said he hopes Catherine's story can help them understand that dangerous driving has real consequences that can end and ruin lives forever.
Catherine purposely wore bright pink running gear to keep her visible
(Image: South Wales Police )
He said: 'I hope that they might see it on social media, or that parents will share it with their children to educate them about how driving like this can ruin lives.
'So many lives have been ruined or affected by this, and for what? What does anyone get out of driving dangerously? It doesn't make any sense at all.
'It's pointless and senseless. He's ruined [Rickwood's] life, he's ruined his family's life, he's killed my wife and he's ruined our lives.
'You see so many people driving around here in a crazy manner, using the roads as a race track. I witnessed it myself even just a few weeks ago where I nearly got run over myself near the fire station traffic lights; someone came around the corner driving like a lunatic. To have to witness that after all this was awful. It's only a matter of time before it happens to someone else.'
He added: 'I want people to keep thinking about this and I want people to keep talking about this because I want people to see who she was.
'She wasn't just another statistic, she was absolutely lovely and she had her whole life ahead of her. She had so much to live for and we had so many plans for the future.'
Paying tribute to Catherine as part of his victim impact statement, he wrote: 'She was one of the most beautiful caring human beings that ever walked the face of this earth. She loved life. She was so full of life and enthusiastic about everything she did, she had so much to live for.
'She loved family life, and she always did her best to look after us all. She doted on our children and grandchildren, and she loved spending time with them, and they all loved her to bits and thought she was the best mam and nan in the world.
'She was a great cook, always trying new recipes, she loved baking, and her cakes were amazing. At Christmas she would have the whole family come to our house and she would cook the most amazing dinner for us, with all the trimmings and wonderful desserts and always did her best to entertain everyone and loved seeing everyone happy and enjoying themselves.
'She used to carry out voluntary work at the local homeless center, helping with cooking meals and collecting clothing and supplies for them, and would often give items of furniture from our home to others in need.
'One of her passions was keeping herself fit and healthy and she enjoyed running. She would often take part in events to raise money for charity.
'We had the most amazing, happy life together, we did almost everything together and would be off on our adventures in our little motorhome as often as we could.
'She was not just my wife; she was my best friend. My soulmate. We had so many plans for the future. So many things we wanted to do, so many places we wanted to go. I thought we would grow old together
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'We had four children between us and five grandchildren, and we were looking forward to doing the normal things in life like spending time with our grandchildren and watching them grow up and seeing our children get married and being there for them whenever we could.'
Addressing Rickwood directly, he wrote: 'But all our lives changed that day in the blink of an eye, when you took away her life.'
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If you, a family member, a friend, or someone you are concerned about has experienced domestic abuse or sexual violence you can contact the Live Fear Free Helpline 24 hours a day seven days a week for free advice and support or to talk through your options: 0808 801 08 00.
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