Caught on camera before deadly crash
A young drug dealer who mowed down a pensioner while pulling a high-speed wheelie on his e-bike has been locked up for more than eight years. Dylan Green, 20, had his girlfriend riding pillion when he hit 86-year-old Bart O’Hare on a main road in Burnley.
The horrifying impact sent the great-grandfather flying through the air. Green didn’t stop to help—he fled the scene, ditching the bike that’s never been found. The incident happened just after 4.15pm on March 22 last year, as Mr O’Hare was on his way to buy fish and chips.
Family devastated in court
At Preston Crown Court, Mr O’Hare’s daughter, Marika Mausolf, gave a heartbreaking statement from the witness box. She told Green: “You’ve broken my family in so many ways I cannot begin to explain. Not once did you show any thought or concern for him… Your selfish attitude was to try and diminish your actions by leaving my dad to suffer so you could get rid of the bike.”
Mr O’Hare, who had two granddaughters and five great-grandchildren, later died in hospital from a fractured skull and severe chest injuries.
Wheelie lasted 37 metres
Prosecutor Philip Astbury said Green, who was already on bail for drug offences at the time, was seen pulling a wheelie for 37 metres on Accrington Road. Expert analysis of CCTV showed he was travelling at a speed 41% faster than other vehicles on the road.
Moments before the crash, Green dropped the front wheel—but by then, his view was already dangerously obscured. Tyre marks confirmed the bike had just returned to the ground before the collision.
Rather than help the man he had hit, Green fled on foot with his girlfriend. He returned to the scene 45 minutes later, accompanied by two men. One of them pointed Green out to police but claimed Mr O’Hare had “run out in front of him.”
No sign of real remorse
Defending, Kristian Cavanagh said Green had suffered night terrors and panic attacks as a result of what happened. But Judge Robert Altham wasn’t convinced. “You should have been wearing a helmet. You should have passed a basic test. You should not have had a pillion passenger. Whilst you are undoubtedly sorry to be caught, I do not detect any real remorse.”
Green pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing death while uninsured. He also admitted supplying MDMA between July and October 2023. He was sentenced to eight years and three months in a young offenders institution, and disqualified from driving for more than 12 years.
‘He was just getting his tea’
Sergeant Paul McCurrie, speaking outside court, said: “That Friday, Bart left his house to go and pick up fish and chips for his tea, a journey that so many people will regularly make. Bart didn’t make it to the chip shop, or home that night. Instead, he was killed by Dylan Green’s reckless driving.”
Judge Altham concluded: “Driving in this manner is not and never will be acceptable. When the worst-case scenario happens, as it did that day, it leaves behind a wake of devastation to more people than you would imagine.”
