Motorist convicted of dangerous driving for causing A1 time trial death

A Cambridgeshire driver who killed a cyclist while he was taking part in a time trial last May has been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving at Peterborough Crown Court.

As reported on road.cc on Tuesday, Katie Hart of Little Paxton, Cambridgeshire, had admitted causing the death by careless driving of army officer Major Gareth Rhys-Evans, but pleaded not guilty to the more serious charge brought by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The 19-year-old health carer will be sentenced next month and has been told by the judge that she faces a prison sentence after the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict following five hours of deliberation.

Major Rhys-Evans, a serving officer with the Intelligence Corps, had been taking part in a 25-mile time trial organised by the Icknield Road Club when he was fatally injured after being hit by Hart’s Ford Ka.

Afterwards, the motorist, who was on her way to her boyfriend’s house, claimed to police that she had not the victim, although a female cyclist described to the court how Hart had passed within a foot of her just moments before the accident.

Major Rhys-Evans leaves two children, and BBC News reported that his widow Emma as saying: "Whatever the verdict was, it makes no difference to mine and my children's loss."