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London businessman Jonathan Kane, a married father-of-three, has been sent to prison for the events that unfolded on the evening of Monday, July 18 last year.

The 52-year-old from Flood Street, Chelsea, left the second home in Trebetherick near Polzeath that he has owned since the 1990s for a business trip to Germany, but also left "cheerful, happy" mum Catherine Bailey dead in a ditch on his way. She died as he was effectively racing the sleeper train to get to London for his flight.

He runs a family business selling safety equipment to customers all around the world and also has a small interest in the Cornish Crabbers boat manufacturing business in Rock.

Kane was staying at his Cornish home on the evening in question and had been out socialising with friends. He then planned to catch that night’s sleeper train from Bodmin to London in order to catch a flight to Germany for two business meetings.

(Image: Google)

But things were about to go disastrously wrong. The lives of his family and strangers to him at the time were “destroyed”.

Kane had had a glass of wine but was perfectly fit to drive and got behind the wheel of his Land Rover Discovery heading for the train station at Bodmin.

Tragically a 45-year-old local mum had her life taken before he could reach his destination.

The mother-of-one’s body was found in a ditch just yards from her parents’ house, beside Trewiston Lane near St Minver.

Catherine, known as Kate, had been killed on impact and propelled 18 metres. Kane was not speeding - driving at about half the speed limit, no more than 30mph. But he also did not see her. The reasons for that may never be known for sure, but a jury and judge decided he was probably using his mobile phone to track the train he was desperate to catch.

Her lifeless body was found by her husband, Alan. He had woke to find that she had not returned home from a walk with their two dogs to check on her parents and frantically called the police after making his shattering discovery just before 4.45am the next day.

Kate's family said a “bright light has gone out of their lives and it will never be the same again”.

She was last seen alive at about 9pm after she and Alan sat down to eat their evening meal at about 8.30pm. She then left to go and feed the chickens and check on her nearby parents for whom she cared, taking the couple's collies with her.

Kate was extremely safety conscious and never went out at night without her high-vis jacket, which was fluorescent with a reflective strip.

The walk usually took her 25 minutes, so when an alarmed Alan woke to find his wife missing, he knew something must be very wrong and went to investigate.

After retracing his wife’s steps he found one of the dogs’ tennis balls on the road along with a shoe and then the high-vis jacket before eventually finding her body, recognising immediately that she had died. The dogs were found in a nearby garden tangled in their leads.

A meeting was swiftly held by police and local councillors in the aftermath of the collision, where road safety in St Minver generally was discussed.

The driver behind the hit-and-run – Kane – had not stopped to help. Instead he continued on his journey to meet the train, and claimed he had not realised the true extent of what he had done.

Later in court he would say that he had heard and felt a forceful bang before getting out of the Land Rover and looking around, noticing some damage.

“I didn’t know what I had hit and thought it was an animal or a wheelie bin,” said the man who confirmed that he was familiar with the lane, having driven and jogged along it in the past.

“I couldn’t see or hear anything. I found the wheel trim on the road and put in on the back seat and went back into the driver’s seat and drove the car to see if it was roadworthy.

“There’s a T-junction at the end of the lane and I remember saying if the vehicle works to that point it is OK. It drove as it previously would have been driven and the brakes and steering worked.”

The front nearside of the Land Rover Defender was severely damaged by the collision. The headlight was still working but pointing at a skewed angle.

Parts of the headlight mounting were found at the scene and a plastic wheel arch had become detached and was found later in the back of the car. The bonnet of the Land Rover was also severely dented by the impact.

Later, when asked why he did not turn back or leave the car, he told his trial at Truro Crown Court: “I wish I had but the car felt safe to drive and I hadn’t seen what I had hit, therefore I carried on the journey.”

He headed towards Bodmin, where he noticed the sleeper had gone, before moving on to Plymouth, where he parked the vehicle only to find he missed the train.

At 11.55pm he was seen driving the vehicle into the car park opposite Plymouth Station and a witness described him as being flustered when he parked.

There was smoke emanating from the Land Rover and the witness was concerned that the vehicle may have been on fire.

A man in the railway station advised him that he could catch it at Exeter, which he did, at about 1am. As he settled into his bunk to get some rest, Kate was lying dead in a ditch with 14 broken ribs and a severed spine.

Kane then caught the Heathrow Express from London Paddington and flew to Frankfurt for two meetings which finished around mid-afternoon.

It was while in Germany that Kane said he found out that he had hit Mrs Bailey.

Asked when he found out that someone had died in Trewiston Lane he said: “I saw a BBC website for the Cornwall region that said there had been a hit-and-run along with a photograph of the lane. I was shocked and went very cold. I then realised what had happened.”

He booked a train to Cornwall to present himself at a police station and after landing in the UK and ringing his wife, officers arrived at his house and transported him to the South West.

The driver is said to have told police: “I am Jonathan Kane, I am the one you are looking for. I am responsible but at no time did I know I hit another person. If I did my actions would have been different.”

He stressed in front of judge and jury that he could remember nothing that would have distracted him on his journey and did not know how he had struck the Cornish mum.

Kane said he was travelling at a sensible speed and was not looking at his phone at any time during the journey. In fact he said it was in his pocket throughout.

He previously pleaded guilty to driving while uninsured and the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving, as well as careless driving and dangerous driving.

In cross examination it was put to Kane that he had been monitoring the location of his train on his phone while driving. Evidence was heard that he had been using the Great Western Rail app to track the train's journey. He claimed he was not looking at it as he drove, but evidence showed that it was running on his phone the whole time.

He was asked how he knew the train had already departed when he arrived at Bodmin. Kane replied that he knew by the time displayed in his car. However he also admitted that he knew it was sometimes late.

Throughout the trial the jury heard from prosecutor Stephen Mooney, who said that Kane was distracted from the road as he was monitoring the Great Western Rail app which told him the location of a train he hoped to catch to London.

“The damage to the passenger wing and the fact that headlight was pointing up tells us that for some reason Mr Kane decided to drive the vehicle in an obviously dangerous condition,” said Mr Mooney.

“Mr Kane realised he couldn’t catch the train at Bodmin so decided to drive to Plymouth, showing how important catching the train was to him and suggests his mind was nowhere near the road.

“He was offered a fire extinguisher at Plymouth but got back in and drove away and this was nothing if not single-minded.”

Addressing the jury, Mr Mooney disputed what Kane told police, saying: “How on Earth can you be involved in impact causing that amount of damage and not know who or what you came into contact with?

“He put the need to get to the station above the need to check properly what he hit. The fact he pressed on is testament to where his priorities were that night - to get to London at all costs.”

It was said that as Kane checked the train company app prior to departure. He could have also been monitoring it during the journey. The app had been running on Kane’s phone but there was no way of telling if he was using it or it was simply on in the background.

Sentencing Kane on Friday (November 3) was Judge Robert Linford.

He told him: “On July 18 you left home to try and make a train from Bodmin to London Paddington. At Trewiston Lane near St Minver you momentarily glanced at an app to see if you were running on time.

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“In those few seconds as you glanced down you failed to see Catherine Bailey who was walking along the side of the road with her two dogs wearing a high visibility jacket.

“You struck her and killed her instantly. I am sure that you did not know what you hit and I am sure you looked for what you hit but saw and heard nothing.

“You did not know that a matter of metres to the rear of your Land Rover Catherine Bailey lay dead by a ditch on the side of the road. After the collision you believed the vehicle to be safe and drove on before catching the train.

“You made your trip abroad and whilst in Germany learned of the accident as you then believed it to have been. You made efforts to return to the South West to surrender but by that time the police already knew it was you they were looking for.

“As a result of your decision to look at your phone Alan lost a wife, Zoe lost a mum and Frances and Kate’s father lost a cheerful, happy daughter at a time they both needed her.

(Image: BBC)

“The mitigation available says that you are hardworking, generous, decent and charitable family man who on one day of your life made the most crass decision with the most catastrophic of consequences.

“The fact is that not only did your decision to look at the app destroy the lives of Alan, Zoe and the family, but also your life and those of your own family.

“I’m satisfied you had no idea you had struck a person and if you had I’m sure you would have stopped and done what you can to have helped.

“You have shown remorse and lead a hard-working and industrious life. At interview you asked to speak to the family of Kate Bailey.

“These are the most difficult cases that a judge has to sentence and no balance can be struck between a loss of life and a defendant such as you. No matter what I do it’s obvious Kate will never come back.”

In addition to the two year sentence, Kane was handed a five-year driving ban but had already stated during the trial he will never drive again.

Outside the court yesterday, Kate’s family said her death was not only a devastating loss to them but also to the community.

More than 500 people attended her funeral and on the anniversary of her death many flowers were laid where she died.

“We are now one year on from that night that changed our lives forever and as time has gone on the impact of our loss is more deeply felt every day.

“Her dad is in poor health having suffered with heart problems and I’ve had to overcome bowel cancer in the past year. We have had to go through all this without Kate who was our rock.

"Even now when we talk about her there is a happiness she left. People very often said that when Kate called she never failed to cheer them up. A bright light has gone out in our lives and it will never be the same again.

“Nothing will ever bring her back and we hope this sends out a message to all drivers to take responsibility for their actions on the roads.”