MAN JAILED OVER SMASH WHICH SAW WOMAN LOSE BABY

‘EIGHT VODKAS’ VAN DRIVER LEFT PREGNANT WOMAN LYING IN ROAD

A HIT-AND-RUN driver who strayed into a cycle lane and hit a pregnant cyclist from behind had drank at least eight vodkas.

Gary Marston, pictured, has been jailed for the crash, which led to the victim losing her baby.

A HIT-AND-RUN driver had drank eight vodkas in a pub shortly before he crashed into a pregnant cyclist – causing devastating injuries which led to the loss of her unborn child.

Gary Marston struck the rider from behind as she rode in a dedicated cycle lane in Aylestone Road, Leicester, in December last year.

The tragedy occurred moments after he had walked out of a nearby pub and got behind the wheel of his work van.

His victim suffered devastating injuries and only pulled through because of her general fitness and good health before the crash.

However, she lost the child she, her partner and their families had been praying for.

Marston, 41, appeared at Leicester Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for two offences – dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a collision – having pleaded guilty to them at an earlier hearing.

He was jailed for a total of 18 months and banned from driving for six years.

The tragedy occurred shortly before 9.40pm on Monday, December 2 last year, the court heard.

The woman was clearly visible because of the lights on the front and rear of her bicycle and on her clothing, prosecutor Neil Bannister told the court.

Marston, driving a Peugeot van, struck her from behind and left her lying seriously injured in the road.

She was taken to hospital and, two days later on Wednesday, December 4, police confirmed she had lost the baby.

The woman spoke of her loss in a statement which was read out in court.

She said: “My diary for Sunday, December 1 reads ‘I’m so happy. It’s been a lovely week and a fantastic weekend. I’m so excited. Christmas is nearly here and so is the best present ever – our baby.”

The entry went on: “I’ve waited a long time for this and I can’t stop smiling. I feel on top of the world.”

In her statement, she described how she and her partner were still trying to cope with their loss.

She said: “We should be getting ready for our daughter’s first birthday. Instead of being excited in the run-up to Christmas, we will be thinking about what our little girl would be doing now.”

The victim also lives in constant pain as a result of her injuries and has no idea whether this will be for the rest of her life.

Jailing Marston, Judge Timothy Spencer told him: “You caused her very serious injury which stays with her and has blighted the year that has passed since.

“But all of that pales against the fact that you caused the miscarriage of that baby, who was stillborn.

“Any sentence I impose, any words that come from me again pale against the guilt and responsibility that go with you, Gary Marston, for the consequences of your actions. You are not a man of good character, you have convictions going a long way back.

“On December 2, after finishing work you went to the pub with a work colleague – that’s the Cricketer’s Arms, near Grace Road.

“It’s clear from CCTV footage you drank no less than eight vodkas. You had absolutely no business getting behind the wheel of a vehicle and you must have known that, even if you were impaired by drink, but your own selfish concerns no doubt dictated your behaviour.”

The cyclist, the judge said, was well illuminated with all the necessary equipment and in the bicycle lane. He continued: “The path your vehicle took was into the cycle lane. I imagine there is not one single factor which lies behind your failure to see her, but among those must be the considerable amount of alcohol you had taken on board.”

An accident collision investigator calculated that just before the collision his speed was 46mph, and that shortly after it that increased to 54mph. The speed limit on the road is 30mph. “You went to your mother’s house and took on yet more alcohol and cocaine,” the judge added. “One of the effects of your not stopping at the scene is nobody will ever know the level of alcohol or narcotics in you at the time.

“The consequences of your actions have been utterly devastating.”

Paul Prior, for Marston, said his client was genuinely remorseful and had been battling alcohol and drug addiction for more than 20 years.

I’ve waited a long time for this and I can’t stop smiling. I feel on top of the world

Mum-to-be, a day before tragedy