10-07-2025
Family and police appeal for information into alleged hit-and-run death in Bangalow
The family of a man killed in an alleged hit-and-run incident has made a deeply emotional appeal for the driver to come forward.
Paul Campton died after he was struck by a vehicle on Raftons Road at Bangalow in northern NSW around 3am on Sunday.
A resident driving in the area saw him lying on the road and called emergency services, which arrived at the scene around 3:30am.
The 64-year-old was dead upon their arrival, leaving behind his wife, Janine, three daughters, and grandchildren.
In a recorded statement distributed by NSW Police, Mr Campton's daughters Kristy, Brianna and Marlie pleaded for the driver to come forward.
"Please, you've already taken our dad away from us, and we're never going to see him again," Marlie said in the video statement.
"Please just have a heart."
They said he was a proud father and grandfather.
"It's never going to be the same," Brianna said in the video statement.
"He would never let me go a day without telling me how proud he was of me.
"We speak every single day, and just to not be able to have him there on the other end of the phone every day, I don't know what I'm going to do now."
His family also spoke of Mr Campton as a man who loved his town, football and music, and was looking forward to retirement.
"The whole of Bangalow was like his family," Marlie said in the video statement.
"Bangalow was his life, and he loves everyone here and everyone here loves him, and he's going to leave a huge hole in the community.
Mr Campton's wife, Janine, said the family had "so many plans for the future" that had been taken from them.
"We have questions that are torturing us," Ms Campton said in the video statement.
Detective Superintendent Grant Erickson from the Tweed/Byron Police District said the alleged hit-and-run had "decimated a family and devastated a community".
"The lack of ownership, humanity and care shown is absolutely disgusting and not of our community standards," he said.
Superintendent Erickson said the investigation was being led by the Far North Coast Crash Investigation Unit with assistance from local detectives under Strike Force Glenoran.
He said it had uncovered CCTV and identified witnesses.
He called on anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers, and for the driver involved to identify themselves.
"I can tell you now from our investigations, there is no doubt in my mind that the driver is acutely aware of their actions," he said.
