Plymouth rallies to help family of man injured in Barbican collision

A fundraising appeal has been set up to help the family of a man seriously injured in a horror collision in Plymouth. Jamie Elliott was hospitalised after the incident on the Barbican in which he was crushed between a car and a van last month.

Jamie is a self-employed bricklayer and unable to work for some time as he recovers from his injuries. He has a fiancée, Roxy Ward, a five-year-old son Reggie, a step son Jayden - and two twins on the way.

Jamie and Roxy were in the process of buying a larger house, with room for the soon-to-arrive babies, near their Plympton home, but that deal has now collapsed following Jamie’s injury. It is not known how long it will be before he can return to work but he faces up to 18 months of rehabilitation.

Jamie’s friend Gareth Edmonds has now set up a fundraiser titled 'Jamie Elliott and his Family' on GoFundMe to help the family. Already more than 100 people have donated more than £1,900 towards a target of £2,500 and Gareth said: “It’s been fantastic, after eight hours we were up to £1,000. People want to help.”

Gareth described Jamie as having “ a heart of gold” and said: “He will do anything to help people out where and when he can. He and Roxy are very hard working people. Jamie is a proper family man and Roxy always wants to do the right thing for people.”

Gareth, who has become a good friend after both he and Jamie bought neighbouring houses in 2018, said: “Jamie is a self employed skilled trader and will not be able to work for quite some time due to his injuries. Jamie and his family are due to grow soon, with his fiancée pregnant with twins.

“They had also sold their family home to move to a larger property, but had to pull out due to the accident. I'm trying to get to £2,500 to help them all with Christmas and tide them over for the next few months. Jamie's van also needs to be repaired.

“Hopefully people can help with anything they can. I know it's a difficult and busy time of year, but any help would be greatly appreciated and welcomed by Jamie, Roxy and their family.”

Police were called to Southside Street on November 21 at about 2pm following reports of a collision between a blue Audi S3 car and a 32-year-old man, a pedestrian who had been driving an orange Volkswagen van prior to the incident. The injured man turned out to be Jamie. He was rushed to Derriford Hospital where he underwent surgery.

He is home now but faces a long road to recovery. Gareth said: “It puts things into perspective, you just don’t know what is going to happen. But luckily Jamie is still here. It’s a blessing.”

Following the incident in November, the driver of the Audi later presented himself at Charles Cross police station where he was initially arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. But after police secured CCTV footage of the incident, the 29-year-old was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

On November 22 detectives charged Jordan Blackmore, of Fore Street, Bere Ferrers, with one count of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one count of section 4A public order. He was remanded in custody to appear at Plymouth crown court on January 6 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

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