Rodney Edwards | Fermanagh TV: Police Hunt Hit and Run Driver
Police are hunting a callous hit-and-run driver after he mowed down a teenage cyclist in Fermanagh last weekend.
As the rain pelted down, 13-year-old Ciara Owens was left lying helplessly and bleeding on the wet ground after being struck by a grey car at a busy junction outside Tesco in Enniskillen.
“I was on my way to Tesco to buy a birthday present for a friend. There were loads of cars everywhere; I think the green man came on so I cycled across the junction. I was going across the set of traffic lights when the car hit me and I fell onto the ground.”
The Impartial Reporter has also learnt that seconds after hitting Ciara, the cruel driver, thought to be around 30-years-old, wound down his window and heartlessly screamed abuse at the injured girl before speeding off.
“He just started yelling at me. He said; “Stupid bitch. You could have fu**ing damaged my car. Get out of my way.” I couldn’t believe it. I said back to him; “But you ran into me?” Then he drove on and I didn’t know what to do.”
The driver left towards the Tesco car park. It’s thought he then may have entered the supermarket shortly afterwards. Ciara, meanwhile, was treated in the Erne Hospital after sustaining a fractured leg in the accident.
“Shocked” and “appalled”, her devastated father Stephen Noble has described the driver’s actions as “deplorable” and is appealing for the culprit to hand himself into police.
“I was furious when I heard about it, it still makes me angry. I think most parents would feel the same. How could anyone knock over a little girl and then drive on?”
“This happened on a busy Saturday outside Tesco. There must be lots of people who seen what happened and can help the police catch this coward. If he’s reading this, he must go to the police and admit what he’s done wrong.”
Inspector Roy Robinson from Enniskillen Police Station has appealed for witnesses who may have seen this incident last week. He also issued this warning to the hit-and-run driver.
“Come forward and hand yourself into police and we will give you credit for that. Maybe you didn’t know you injured Ciara or whatever, or that you done much damage, but you still drove on from a scene of a crime. Come forward to us before we come knocking for you.”
By Rodney Edwards for fermanagh.tv