A motorist who hit and killed a Bedale cyclist while using her phone at the wheel has been jailed for more than six years.
Sophie Waugh, 31, of Broadway West, Dormanstown, Redcar, was today jailed for six years and eight months after pleading guilty at Teesside Crown Court.
She also received a driving ban of five and a half years and must undertake an extended driving test.
These come into effect only when she is released from prison.
Waugh was charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of 71-year-old Ian Morris, from Bedale, following an extensive investigation by North Yorkshire Police’s Major Collision Investigation Team.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 28 June 2023, Mr Morris was cycling on the A6055 Leeming Lane near Kirklington.
Waugh, a serving soldier with the Royal Logistics Corp, had left her place of work at Alanbrooke Barracks, near Thirsk, at around 2pm to return home.
Mr Morris was cycling northbound when Waugh, travelling in the same direction, struck the rear of Mr Morris’ bicycle.
At around 2.24pm, the emergency services were alerted to the collision by a member of the public.
As a result of the collision, Mr Morris died instantly at the scene.
During Waugh’s journey whilst driving alone, Digital Forensic Unit officers were able to prove that she had been using her smartphone prolifically up to the point of the collision.
This included the locking and unlocking of her device 10 times, 13 outgoing messages from Facebook Messenger and six outgoing messages from Snapchat.
Overall, there had been 34 incoming and outgoing messages during this time.
Significantly, the digital evidence report showed that the handset had locked at 2.24pm with the Instagram app on the screen.
Detective Constable Laura Cleary, from the major collision investigation team, said: “Waugh claimed during police interview that she had not seen Mr Morris on his bicycle and even suggested that he must have swerved out in front of her car.
“Witnesses to the collision challenged her version of events, stating that Mr Morris was riding normally and wearing a long-sleeved fluorescent green cycling jersey and had a flashing red light on the rear of his bicycle at the time of the collision.
“They said it was Waugh’s car that had veered towards Mr Morris.
“Thankfully, Waugh has now admitted causing death by dangerous driving and accepts that she was driving while using a mobile phone.
“This is one of the Fatal 5 factors in such collisions, the others being careless driving, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding.
“The horrific consequences of being distracted by mobile phones are plain to see in this case.
“This is a stark wake-up call for anyone who is tempted to use their phones while in control of a vehicle.
“Our thoughts remain with Mr Morris’ family who have been left devastated by this wholly avoidable tragedy.”
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