**Grieving Husband’s Plea to Drivers After Jogger Killed by Dangerous Motorist in Dowlais**
A Welsh widower has spoken with raw candour about the devastating toll of losing his beloved wife to dangerous driving – and hopes her tragic story will serve as a stark warning to motorists everywhere.
Allan Bradford still finds everyday life an ongoing struggle, almost three years after his wife Catherine’s fatal accident. He recounts returning home to silence, having to cook for one, and the loneliness of sleeping in an empty bed, without the partner who once filled his world with joy. “This isn’t a sob story about me,” Allan insists, “but every driver should hear what happened and understand how catastrophic the consequences of careless driving can be.”
Catherine, aged 52, was killed in September 2022 while jogging along High Street, Dowlais. She had just begun her run when Alex Rickwood, 32, lost control of an MG ZR. Rickwood, who was not insured and used a fraudulent trade plate, had accelerated to test a misfiring engine. According to witnesses, he was travelling at speeds of up to 60mph before losing control, mounting the pavement and colliding with a lamppost – striking Catherine barely 30 yards into her run.
Rickwood, from Wern Isaf, Dowlais, appeared at Cardiff Crown Court, where he was handed a sentence of five years and five months in prison after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and related offences. He has also been disqualified from driving for over seven years. The incident, and subsequent lengthy court process, has left Allan and his family reeling, exposing them to traumatic evidence and repeated heartbreak as they prepared for trial. Rickwood’s last-minute guilty plea, delivered just two days before the scheduled trial, brought further emotional turmoil to the family.
Recounting the day of the tragedy, Allan shared poignant memories of Catherine’s final hours. She had planned to run the previous day, but postponed, ultimately deciding to go out as a means to motivate herself. Allan drove her to an alternate drop-off spot, at her request, and they briefly visited her parents – the family joking about Catherine’s luminous pink running outfit chosen for safety. “She lit up the room with her smile,” Allan recalled. Her parting words – “Give me a kiss and put the oven on in half an hour” – remain seared in Allan’s memory. Moments later, he watched her walk away, not realising it was the last time he would ever see her.
Allan described the horrific moment when he and Catherine’s daughter, Megan, realised she had not returned. Their growing concern led them to retrace Catherine’s route, only to be met with a cordoned-off road and the dreadful confirmation from police that a runner had been killed.
“The aftermath was just horrific,” Allan explained. “Even now, it doesn’t feel real. The pain is as raw now as the day it happened. I dread coming home to an empty house.” In the months since, the family has endured not only grief but also anxiety around court proceedings, with the police sensitively preparing them for the evidence to come.
Allan’s reason for speaking out is clear: to urge drivers, particularly those tempted to drive recklessly, to consider the real, lasting devastation their actions can cause. “Lives are ruined,” he said. “Not just mine – but Catherine’s, our children’s, even [Rickwood’s] own family. It’s all so pointless and senseless.”
In his victim statement, Allan paid heartfelt tribute to Catherine as someone who lived for her family and community, always generous with her time and her talents – from cooking festive family feasts to volunteering for local causes and raising charity funds through her love of running. “She was my wife, my best friend, my soulmate. We had so many plans for the future.” Their children and grandchildren, together with the whole community, have lost someone truly cherished.
Allan is determined that Catherine not be remembered as just “another statistic.” He calls on parents to share her story with young drivers, in the hope it might prevent another family from enduring the same pain. “People need to keep talking about her, about the kind of person she was – lively, caring, full of plans, someone who genuinely made the world a better place.”
Tragedies like Catherine’s serve as a powerful reminder: behind every fatal collision lies a web of lives shattered in an instant, and every reckless decision at the wheel comes with consequences that can never be undone.