Jailed...van driver on 17-hour shift who killed cyclist
Behind bars...van driver John Barnes AN EXHAUSTED van driver on a 17-hour shift who killed a cyclist while speeding and talking on his phone has been jailed for three years.
John Barnes, 28, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, had started work at 3am and had driven 600 miles when his van hit keen cyclist John Stewart at nearly 70mph, sending him flying more than 130ft into a hedgerow.
Derby Crown Court heard retired council worker Mr Stewart, 72, was one of 16 members of South Pennine Road Club taking part in a time trial last June, when the crash happened on the A50 near Derby.
Father-of-two Barnes, of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, already had 11 points on his driving licence at the time of the collision, the court heard. He had previously been banned for six months for driving without due care and attention, failing to stop following an accident, failing to report an accident and driving while using a mobile phone.
James Moore, prosecuting, said Barnes was travelling at 69mph, 9mph over the three-tonne van’s speed limit. He had been on the phone to a friend for 32 minutes and police found the call ended seconds after the collision.
Struggle
Barnes eventually stopped more than half a mile past the crash site and witnesses described him as “visibly upset”.
Mr Moore said: “He started work that day at 3am and had driven in excess of 600 miles.
“He would have been suffering significant elements of fatigue.”
In a statement read out in court, Mr Stewart’s widow Veronica said: “We have been together for 45 years and married for 33 of those.
“The cycling club that he was a member of he started in 1962.
“My life has been turned upside down. It feels like I have been robbed of my life with John.
“We had so many plans for the future. I struggle daily and I will never get over this.”
Nicholas Syfret, defending, described Barnes as “a responsible and doting father” and added: “The only rational explanation is that he did not see the cyclist.”
Judge Shaun Smith QC told Barnes: “There is no price on human life, there never can be.
“Tragically, Mr Stewart died as a result of the way you drove on that day.
“Other drivers had no problem negotiating him and other cyclists. You, however, did not swerve.”