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news
Broken bike (CC licensed image by garryknight, www.flickr.com)Girl band pop star jailed for killing Hertfordshire cyclist
The lead singer of a girl band has been jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to causing the death of a cyclist by careless driving in March this year.
Sr Albans Crown Court heard that Nadine Samuels, a member of the group M.O., failed to look as she approached a roundabout in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in her Ford Ka, reports The Mirror.
She hit Debbie Mills, aged 54, with the impact throwing the cyclist against the car’s windscreen then onto the road.
Mrs Mills, who was wearing a cycle helmet, was taken by air ambulance to hospital where she died from traumatic brain injuries sustained in the collision.
Samuels, aged 27, told police that she had looked to her right as she approached the roundabout in the outside lane, and that the road was clear.
But Martin Mulgrew, prosecuting, told the court: "The defendant failed entirely to check the road ahead was clear. Other road users had stopped."
Simon Gledhill, defending Samuels, said that she was not familiar with the road, the A414, and was using a sat-nav for directions.
Sentencing Samuels to eight months’ imprisonment and banning her from driving for two years and four months, Judge Michael Kay QC said: "You did not see Mrs Mills. You did not stop and you collided with her bicycle and she was knocked off. Very tragically she died from her injuries.
"You stopped and you were distraught and you were heard to repeatedly say: 'I didn't see her. I didn't see her.'
"There is nothing I can say or do which can restore a life to a bereaved family. My heart goes out to them."
One of Mrs Mills’ three children, Josh, said that she had started cycling as a hobby, adding, "We will miss her dearly,"
Her husband Kevin said: "We had been married for almost 25 years. We had planned our first holiday together without the children.
"We planned to do so much together. We have suffered so much since Debbie died. Her life has been taken from us."
Samuels was a founder member of M.O. when it was formed in 2012. Two years later, the group was the main support act on Little Mix on their Salute Tour in Britain and Ireland, and this year achieved their second UK top 20 single.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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40 comments
Four months for murder?? Another absofuckinglutely disgraceful sentence.
Murder is intentional killing. In this case it's simply a case of piss poor driving, ending with a sentence not much off what a disquaified, uninsured driver got for a dagnerous overtake followed by a U-turn and driving his car into a cyclist as a weapon.
Better than the usual slap on the wrist, but it's the overly agressive, dangerous drivers who are deliberately risking lives that need the longest, harshest sentencing.
Killing someone through inattention would attract a much harsher punishment if it was anything other than driving a car. Why is there such a vast gulf between what happens to drivers and anyone else who unintentionally kills?
You may think it's the aggressive boy racers who are the ones to watch out for, but the data shows it's the ones who aren't paying attention you need to worry about. Who deserves the longer sentences is not something I would like to judge, especially since the outcomes are the same, but neither set out to kill.
It's not murder.
Womaen normally get a lower sentence than men.
At least she didn't get off like that 'traumatised' Ayasha Penfold
https://metro.co.uk/2018/06/08/driver-20-spared-jail-for-killing-cyclist...
but she was pretty and has a recurrent distressing dream.
It's not murder.
Womaen normally get a lower sentence than men.
At least she didn't get off like that 'traumatised' Ayasha Penfold
https://metro.co.uk/2018/06/08/driver-20-spared-jail-for-killing-cyclist...
but she was pretty and has a recurrent distressing dream.
Your not helping. Grow up.
That would be “you’re not helping” as I was unaware that I could own a not helping. Realistically it is the courts and and public opinion, for some reason, that are not helping effectively classing cyclists as a lower form of citizen not worthy of proper protection. No I don’t want to.
"Very tragically she died from her injuries."
There you go, next time you're hit by a car, could you just make a bit more of an effort and NOT die from your injuries?
RIP sister.
For christs sake, 8 months for murder yet again, when are the law courts going to get tough on stupid drivers - in this case an idiot girl - who kill cyclists? Pathetic!
Naming her 'band' only increases her notoriety, road.cc btw.
Makes a change to see someone jailed and a young female too.
Not clear what happened- she drove into a stationary Mrs Mills who was ahead and in front of her?
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