A MAN who was due to appear in court in connection with an alleged hit-and-run crash that left a father-of-three with life-changing injuries has walked free after the case was ruled ‘out of time’ by a court.

The family of John Conibeer, now aged 34, are demanding answers after a magistrates’ court heard the charges the 43-year-old accused faced could not be dealt with 21 months after the incident.

Sources say the case has fallen foul of the six-month time-limit for proceedings to be brought on summary cases – those which can only be heard in a magistrates’ court.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “We have received a complaint in relation to this case. It would be inappropriate for us to comment further at this stage.”

A spokesperson for Gwent Police, who brought the prosecution, added: “Gwent Police followed the standard procedures in respect of this investigation and sought advice at an early juncture from the Crown Prosecution Service.

“We note the legal arguments raised by the defence. It would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Mr Conibeer was given a two per cent chance of survival by medics after being hit by a van on the A48 at Pwllmeyric, near Chepstow, early on February 17, 2018.

He had been a passenger in a Honda Civic car which had crashed into a wall and had got out when the collision with the van happened as Mr Conibeer tried to push the car back onto the road.

Police found bumpers from the van on the road and launched an appeal, which eventually saw a man arrested last March and later charged.

The accused, from Rogiet, was due to appear before Newport magistrates earlier this month, but Mr Conibeer and his family were stunned when they attended court to learn the police-led prosecution was being withdrawn, which a family friend labelled a “major setback”.

The family had attended court “looking for answers”, but were furious to learn it was being discontinued.

“I have lost out on justice because of a technicality,” Mr Conibeer told the BBC.

As a result of the accident, Mr Conibeer underwent more than 60 hours of surgery.

On the anniversary of the crash last February, Mr Conibeer’s father Anthony made a fresh appeal for justice for his son, saying: “It’s now been nearly 12 months since our son John was left for dead on the side of the road at the top of Pwllmeyric Hill near Chepstow.

“He was left choking on his own blood, his leg smashed behind his back, broken and damaged, his body damaged in so many ways it was unbelievable.

“He was just left there like a piece of discarded meat.”

He was rushed to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, and later transferred to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, where he was placed into an induced coma.

“This year has been the worst year of our lives,” Mr Conibeer added.

“The pain that John has gone through, only he can tell you.

“The heartache and stress that myself and our family has gone through [is] sometimes unbearable, the tears by the bucketful.”