‘Distracted’ dentist avoids jail after killing cycling pensioner

A “distracted” dentist who was told while she was driving that her father was dying, and then ploughed through a road junction killing a pensioner, has avoided a jail sentence.

Lucinda Collins was on a hands-free call with her mother while behind the wheel of her BMW taking her three-year-old daughter to a play date, Chester Crown Court heard.

Collins, 40, was distracted by news that nothing more could be done for her severely ill father and missed ‘stop’ signs and that she was approaching a junction.

Travelling at around 40mph she failed even to brake and hit another BMW, pushing it into the path of cyclist, retired builder Roger Dutton, 75, a “much loved” father and grandfather and cycling club member.

Holywell

Mr Dutton, of Holywell, north Wales, was killed in the collision, at the junction on Brown Heath Road between the villages of Waverton and Christleton in Cheshire.

Mother-of-one Collins, of Upton, Cheshire, admitted at an earlier hearing causing death by dangerous driving on August 25 2022.

Before she was sentenced on Friday she sat in the dock as members of Mr Dutton’s family told her how her actions had devastated their lives.

Judge Stephen Everett told Collins: “Many will appreciate the irony of the news you received and the actions resulting in them.

“You received news of the impending death of your father and by your actions and distraction, you visited that same awful experience on the family sitting to my right.”

Banned

Judge Everett said because Collins had never been in trouble before, did not represent a danger to the public and he had to consider whether immediate custody was appropriate, he would not send her to jail.

Collins made no reaction as she was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

She was also banned from the roads for five years, given 250 hours of community service and ordered to pay £2,260 in costs.

Turning to Mr Dutton’s family, Judge Everett said he had to “follow the law” before adding: “You may or may not agree with me.”

Earlier, James Coutts, prosecuting, told the court Mr Dutton was the oldest member and “glue” of the Simply Grey Cycling Club and was out enjoying a ride in summer sunshine when he was killed by Collins.

Mr Coutts said as Collins took a call from her mother with an update on her father’s health she took a wrong turn, taking her through the countryside.

Collins did not brake before the collision and told police at the scene she had simply lost concentration.

The court heard Mr Dutton, a former builder, described as a “remarkable” man who was “challenging the stereotype of a 75-year-old pensioner”, was “thriving” in retirement, happy and healthy with a zest for life.

Mr Dutton’s widow, Dale Dutton, said in a statement they were married aged 17 and were weeks away from their 46th wedding anniversary.

‘Emptiness’

She said: “The emptiness is so big. We will never see his smiling face or hear his laughter again. The loss will be with us forever. He was everything to me. I am broken. He was the light of our lives.”

His son, Joel Dutton, said his father was his hero and best friend, and Olivia Dutton, his daughter, looked at Collins directly as she read her victim impact statement.

“You and your actions alone have left our family devastated and broken. I miss him to my very core.”