A MOTHER has told how she can never forgive the man whose driving killed her only son.

Barbara Ruewell has spoken out after Malcolm Griffiths was found guilty of causing death by careless driving over the death of her 20-year-old son William Ruewell, a motorcycle fanatic, who died on August 24 last year.

Mrs Ruewell, 59, told The Argus: “I cannot forgive someone for taking him away from me.”

Mrs Ruewell said she felt “total exhaustion” after Griffiths was found guilty at the end of a nine-month ordeal that saw her son’s funeral rescheduled three times for autopsies and evidence-taking.

She said: “It has been a very difficult time. It took three seconds for this accident to happen and the fall-out was appalling, not just for us but the defendant as well.

“I’m only human and of course I blame him but I don’t think about him now – I have to think about my children and husband.”

Mrs Ruewell said the experience had changed her daughters Lydia and Ellie, describing it as “a blot on their lives”.

Holidaymaker Griffiths, who lives in Landmark Drive in the parish of Southampton on Bermuda, pulled out of the car park of the Squire and Horse pub in Bury, near Arundel, into the path of William and his friend Chris James heading south on the A29.

Griffiths said he had seen the motorbikes but believed they were far enough away for him to pull out of the car park across their path and turn right.

Mr James managed to swerve behind the car but Mr Ruewell, of West Chiltington Lane in Billingshurst, collided with the front of the Volvo and died at the scene of his injuries, which included a broken neck.

Mrs Ruewell and husband Philip arrived at the scene as paramedics tried to revive him.

She said: “We were there within 20 minutes to see him and say goodbye.”

Griffiths, 70, was fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £1,800 costs and a £120 victim surcharge at Chichester Magistrates’ Court. He was also disqualified from driving for two years. He has to take an extended driving test before he is able to drive again.

Mrs Ruewell said: “We felt it was the right verdict but it doesn’t change things.”

The latest news came just days before what would have been Mr Ruewell’s 21st birthday.

Sergeant Mel Doyle, of Sussex Police, said: “This was a very tragic incident and it has been a difficult time for William’s family since the collision.

“The conclusion and outcome of the trial is another step forward for the family and friends to understand what happened that day.”