Little Mix tour singer jailed over cyclist death
A SINGER who toured with chart-topping girl group Little Mix has been jailed for eight months after killing a cyclist in a road accident.
Aspiring pop star Nadine Samuels, 27, failed to stop at a roundabout – ploughing her car into Debbie Mills, 54.
The mother of three was hurled into the windscreen of the Ford Ka, before landing on the road.
She was airlifted to hospital but died of catastrophic head injuries, despite wearing a helmet.
Samuels, a member of girl group M.O, stopped after the crash and rang 999 but was too distressed to explain what had happened and a passer-by had to finish the call.
The singer, who was dressed in
‘We have suffered so much’
black, sobbed as Mrs Mills’s son, Josh, told a court: ‘We will miss her dearly.’ He added that his mother had taken up cycling as a hobby and always wore bright clothes and had flashing lights on her bike. Her husband Kevin said: ‘We had been married for almost 25 years. We had planned our first holiday 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.’
Mrs Mills, who ran a bakery business from her home, was cycling on a roundabout on the A414 in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, on the morning of March 21 when she was hit by Samuels.
Another driver had stopped to give way but Samuels – who sup- ported Little Mix on their 2014 Salute tour and is friends with the band’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock – carried on in the outside lane at 22-26mph.
Mrs Mills was knocked off her mountain bike and died the following day at the Royal London Hospital. Martin Mulgrew, prosecuting, told St Albans Crown Court: ‘The defendant failed to check the road ahead was clear. Other road users had stopped.’
Samuels claimed she had looked to her right as she neared the roundabout and saw nothing.
She admitted causing death by careless driving at a previous hearing. Judge Michael Kay, QC, said he had no option but to jail Samuels, telling her: ‘This was not momentary inattention – the warning signs were there.’
Samuels was also banned from driving for 28 months.
The court was told the defendant, of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, was of previous good character and had held a full, clean driving licence for three years.
Samuel Gledhill, defending, said: ‘Nothing I can say or any sentence will be able to console the grief of Mrs Mills’ family.’
He said Samuels’s ‘remorse for what happened is genuine’.