'S*** happens, life goes on': What killer driver travelling at twice the speed limit told family of his five-year-old victim outside court

Cameron Ward was killed when a car driven by Wayne Payne hit his bicycle



Accident investigators said Payne, 31, was driving at 61mph at time



He denied causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty by jury

Jury at Birmingham Crown Court took just 45 minutes to deliver verdict

Payne was sentenced to five years in jail and handed five-year driving ban

Judge had bailed killer driver over weekend on 'compassionate grounds'

But minutes later he a rgued with victim’s grieving relatives outside court

Wayne Payne, 31, was travelling at 61mph when he hit a bike on which Cameron Ward was sitting in Erdington, Birmingham

A driver who knocked down and killed a five-year-old boy while travelling at twice the speed limit told his victim's grieving family: 'S**t happens, life goes on'.



Wayne Payne, 31, was travelling at 61mph when he hit a bike on which Cameron Ward was sitting in Erdington, Birmingham.

The youngster, who was being helped along by his father John Ward, was killed as he returned with his family from an Easter party on April 1 last year.

A judge had bailed the killer driver over the weekend on 'compassionate grounds' so he could see his two young daughters before being jailed.

But just minutes later Payne, of Erdington, argued with Cameron’s grieving relatives outside Birmingham Crown Court - before walking away saying: 'S**t happens, life goes on.'

As Judge Rafferty jailed the driver and told him: 'You were let out on trust by me for the weekend and the fact that you behaved in that way is a very unfortunate state of affairs.'

Payne, who drove at 61mph in the 30mph area, did not brake and hit the rear of the bike, causing the youngster to be flung into the air.

Police and paramedics were called to the scene but the schoolboy could not be saved.



Unemployed Payne, 31, of Birmingham, denied causing death by dangerous driving but was found guilty by a jury, who took just 45 minutes to deliver a verdict at Birmingham Crown Court.

He was sentenced to five years in prison and told he would serve at least half of the sentence in custody.



He was also banned from driving for five years.

The court heard he had convictions for drug possession dating back to 2004 and two fixed penalty notices from 2010 and 2012 for using a phone while driving.

Gulan Ahmed, defending Payne, said: 'He is remorseful and sorry for what he did.



Cameron Ward, five, who was being helped along by his father John Ward, was killed as he returned with his family from an Easter party on April 1 last year Cameron, pictured with his mother Katie. The court previously heard extracts of a victim impact statement from her, which said: 'My heart breaks every time that I think about him' Grieving: Pictured with his father John, who was with him when he died. He told the court: 'Cameron was my life and I have lost him' He has two daughters himself and he puts himself in the position of the victims and tells me that he wishes he could turn back time and undo what he has done, but he can’t.

'He is going to have to live with what he did until the day of his own death.' RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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'It brings us more pain and distress every time we come... Share this article Share A letter of apology was also handed to the court from Payne, via his legal team, which stated he had spent the weekend reflecting on his clash with the family of Cameron. Judge Stuart Rafferty QC told him: ‘A five-year-old boy has lost his life before he even had a chance to begin to live. If you had just been a few seconds later you would have hit four people and not two.

‘You were not doing 35mph, or even 40mph, you were doing twice the speed limit and I’m satisfied that you had been doing that along the entire length of the road. It was grossly excessive and there was no legitimate reason at all for driving in that way.

‘Mr Ward was blameless, but he will continue to ask himself if it was his fault. One can only imagine his horror as a responsible parent when he saw the speed at which the vehicle was approaching him at and he realised that there was nowhere for him to go. Dozens of floral tributes were left at the scene of the collision in Court Lane, Erdington, Birmingham Hundreds of people attended the little boy's funeral. His family told the court: 'Nothing is the same, nobody is the same and everybody hurts. We love and miss him so much' The judge has praised Cameron's family - pictured here at his funeral - for their dignity throughout the case The little boy's coffin was taken by horse and carriage, and was covered in flowers and his favourite Spiderman character ‘The last memory the parents have of their little boy will not be a happy one, it will be the sight of him after you had hit him.’ Howard Searle, prosecuting, told the court how Mr Ward saw the headlights of a Vauxhall Vectra, being driven by Payne, in the distance before he stepped into the highway. He said: 'Mr Ward thought he had plenty of time to cross. As he got to the middle of the road he heard the roar of a car engine and realised the car was much closer to him. 'It was this defendant driving well in excess of the speed limit. He froze on the spot. One floral tribute, left by the youngster's parents, contained a heartbreaking tribute to their son

'The car being driven by Payne did not brake at all but drove into the bicycle. It hit the rear.

'Cameron was flung into the air and his father was injured as well.'

Mr Searle said the defendant lost control of the Vectra and it continued for 50 metres down the street before colliding with a parked car.

He said the defendant, who later claimed he had tried to swerve, had admitted careless driving.

Mr Ward, 37, who had been walking ahead of his partner Katie Lawrence and daughter Ruby at the time of the crash, said he had seen the lights of a vehicle about 200 metres away and had gone out into the road between two parked cars.

'I thought it was safe to cross the road,' he said. 'It happened very quickly. It was over in seconds.'

'I don't know how I got up but I did. I knew he was dead. I wanted to disappear. Cameron was my life and I had lost him.'



The court previously heard extracts of a victim impact statement from mother Katie, 23, who had described his birth as the happiest day of her life.



She said: 'My heart breaks every time that I think about him. Nothing is the same, nobody is the same and everybody hurts. We love and miss him so much.'

