Family anguish over 'kind, thoughtful, ambitious' Royal Navy lad with 'beautiful smile' killed by scooter rider

The distraught family of a promising Royal Navy lad have paid tribute to the "kind, thoughtful, ambitious and driven" young man who "lit up every room he walked into" following the sentencing of his killer. Royal Navy Air Engineering Technician Rohan Hicks died when his motorbike was hit by Lawrence King during a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre.

The 21-year-old who had joined the Royal Navy in 2019 and had a bright career serving his country ahead of him, died at the scene in the arms of his own father, an off-duty paramedic who had rushed there after growing concerned for his son's welfare. The fatal crash happened on the B3252 at Horningtops near Liskeard shortly before 10pm on June 29, 2022 when King, 31, tried to overtake a car on a hill but struggled to and lost control of his red Honda FES Pantheon scooter, giving Rohan no time to take evasive action on his own bike.

King, of Bay Tree Hill, Liskeard, who received life-changing injuries in the crash, was sentenced for causing the death of Rohan at Truro Crown Court on Friday May 17 to 12 months in prison suspended for two years and a five-year driving ban.

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After the sentencing hearing, Rohan's family poured out their hearts and released new photographs of him. They said: “On June 29, 2022 Rohan was cruelly taken from us, our precious son. The pain of his loss is physical and emotional and comes in waves throughout every single day. It is unbearable to accept that we will never see Rohan again.

"Many of our family try to imagine that he is on deployment and may walk back through the door again, complaining about being hungry."

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They added: “Rohan was a proud AET (aircraft engineer technician) in the Royal Navy, as a family we are so unbelievably proud of what Rohan achieved in his very short life, he was kind, thoughtful, ambitious and driven. He lit up every room he walked into with his infectious personality, sense of humour, beautiful smile and generosity of spirit. Rohan had a good moral compass and was a credit to his family and friends.

“Rohan and our family have been robbed of a future happiness, Rohan will never marry and have the children that he wanted. Our lives will be forever poorer for not having Rohan in them, as will the people that he was yet to meet and the family that he would have had.”

King, who, when interviewed by police in March 2023 after recovering from his own injuries, told Devon and Cornwall Police officers that on seeing the light coming towards him, he "yanked on the brake" but couldn’t get back into the correct lane in time. The sentencing hearing on Friday (May 17) was told that King had been entirely in the wrong lane while Rohan was completely blameless.

Serious collision investigator PC Helen Lentern said: "This tragic case highlights the importance of conducting safe overtakes. Before conducting an overtake, drivers and riders must ensure the road is sufficiently clear ahead, other road users are not beginning to overtake you and there is a suitable gap in front of the road user you plan to overtake. Do not overtake if there is any doubt or where you might come into conflict with other road users."