‘To think he passed away at the side of the road with only strangers with him will haunt us for the rest of our days’
The grieving family of a cyclist killed by a driver who ploughed through a junction have described how their lives have been “shattered” by her actions. Roger Dutton was killed when dentist Lucinda Collins was distracted on a hands-free call and missed “stop” signs.
She hit another BMW, pushing that vehicle into the path of the much-loved father and grandfather killing him. Chester Crown Court heard this week that during that phone call, the 40-year-old had been told her father was dying moments before the collision.
Collins avoided immediate custody and was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, for causing death by dangerous driving.
Roger’s family said they don’t feel justice has been done and believe her sentence was an “insult”.
Speaking after the case concluded, the Dutton family said Collins’ delayed guilty plea added to their grief, a point referenced by the judge in sentencing.
“She now walks free from court today, free to live her life, with her family, with little consequences for taking another person’s life,” a family statement said.
“That is not justice and is an insult to the value of Roger’s life. The justice system has failed him and us, the victims in this tragedy.”
Judge Stephen Everett said because Collins had never been in trouble before, she did not represent a danger to the public.
The court heard Collins had been distracted by a call from her mother about how her father was dying. This caused her to lose concentration with fatal consequences for the 75-year-old cyclist from Holywell who was enjoying a day out when the accident happened on August 25, 2022.
Collins was driving her BMW and taking her three-year-old daughter to a play date when she failed to brake at 40mph and collided with another BMW, subsequently pushing it into the path of keen cyclist Roger Dutton at the junction on Brown Heath Road between the villages of Waverton and Christleton in Cheshire.
James Coutts, prosecuting, told the court Mr Dutton was the oldest member and “glue” of the Simply Grey Cycling Club and had been enjoying a sunny summer ride when he was killed. You can read our full report of the court case here
The Dutton family said they have been put through hell with delays to the case coming to court. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here
In a heartfelt statement after the case concluded, the family said: “Lucinda Collins shattered our family when she killed our beloved Roger.
The statement went on: “She could have spared us this time and pain by admitting guilt at the first opportunity.”
The statement followed heart rending personal victim impact statements from Roger’s close family in the hearing.
His wife Dale, who met her husband aged just 17, told the court of the “damage and utter devastation” caused by Collins that day.
She said Roger was “the light of our lives”.
“We will never ever see his smiling face or hear his laughter again. There are no words to convey how that feels. This loss will last forever. I have lost such a massive part of me.
“The pain, heartache and emptiness has not eased with time and I can’t imagine being truly happy ever again. I was just 17 when Roger and I married, he was everything to me, and nothing can ever replace him.
“The hole in my life just gets bigger and bigger. Since Roger was killed I have suffered many many sleepless nights, when I do get to sleep, I’m woken to the harsh reality that he is gone.”
The cyclist’s bereaved wife described how a “weight that dropped inside of me” when the police officers came to tell her that he had been killed and the “blackness that took over us all as the reality of never seeing Roger again hit us”.
Dale Dutton said it pained her that her husband would miss milestones in his children and grandchildren’s lives and told how their son, Joel and daughter Olivia, had a “deep and unique relationship with their dad”.
“Our home was a vibrant happy place to be, not just for Roger and me but for our children and their families along with all our friends and wider family, who all miss Roger greatly.
“Now, I hardly spend any time at home because I feel the emptiness so much more when I’m alone there. Roger was life and soul to so many people who loved him as he loved them.”
The couple were enjoying Roger’s retirement and looking forward to spending more time together in Dale’s retirement. A planned trip to revisit all the places they went to on honeymoon for their upcoming 45th wedding anniversary, delayed by the pandemic, would now never happen because Roger was killed 10 days before it.
“The light has gone and I’m faced with my future life of emptiness because he was taken from me,” said Dale, “My heart is heavy and I feel the weight of that every single day.
“One day he was here, the next we was gone. We never got to say goodbye and tell him how much we loved him. To think he passed away at the side of the road with only strangers with him will haunt us for the rest of our days.
Roger’s daughter Olivia told Lucinda Collins that she had taken her father from her. In her impact statement she went on: “Lucinda Collins, you have taken a life, taken an incredible life, you have taken my beloved dad away from us.
“On August 25, 2022, a day that will now haunt us forever, our lives were torn apart, damaged beyond all repair and left in unimaginable pain and heartache. You and your actions alone have left myself and my family devastated and broken.”
Roger’s son Joel spoke to the court about his strong relationship with his father, their shared love of fishing and how he helped care for his grandchildren. He said his father had many friends, with 200 attending his funeral.
Remembering the day he was told his father had been killed Joel said it felt like hisheart had been “torn out” and life would never be the same again.
Sentencing Collins on April 25, Judge Everett said because the mother of one 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, of Upton, Cheshire, admitted at an earlier hearing causing death by dangerous driving on August 25, 2022.
She 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.
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