Jail for driver who had been on night out and killed cyclist as he rushed to work the next day

A Warwickshire driver who killed a cyclist after hitting him head-on while rushing to work in February last year has been jailed for four-and-a-half years. George Hacker overslept after going out drinking the night before, staying up for three whiskies and a line of cocaine after he got home.

The Stratford Observer reports that Hacker was due in work at 8am but didn’t leave home until 9.45am.

Driving along the B4452 Ufton Road near Harbury, just after 10am, he drifted onto the opposite side of the road and hit 35-year-old Simon Worthington who was training for a triathlon.

Worthington, whose wife was expecting their second child at the time, died at the scene.

Hacker was on his phone via Bluetooth and later said he had been distracted by seeing a vehicle in a field which seemed to have been in an accident.

Coventry Crown Court heard that Hacker continued on the wrong side of the road for another 70 to 80 yards. A woman driving in the opposite direction feared he would hit her too.

Hacker was arrested and was found to have been in possession of a small amount of cocaine.

He admitted causing Worthington's death by dangerous driving.

As well as the four-and-a-half year sentence, Deputy Judge Richard Griffith-Jones also gave him a concurrent three-month sentence for possessing cocaine and banned him from driving for six years and three months.