The lead singer of a girl band has been jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to causing the death of a cyclist by careless driving in March this year.
Sr Albans Crown Court heard that Nadine Samuels, a member of the group M.O., failed to look as she approached a roundabout in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire in her Ford Ka, reports The Mirror.
She hit Debbie Mills, aged 54, with the impact throwing the cyclist against the car’s windscreen then onto the road.
Mrs Mills, who was wearing a cycle helmet, was taken by air ambulance to hospital where she died from traumatic brain injuries sustained in the collision.
Samuels, aged 27, told police that she had looked to her right as she approached the roundabout in the outside lane, and that the road was clear.
But Martin Mulgrew, prosecuting, told the court: "The defendant failed entirely to check the road ahead was clear. Other road users had stopped."
Simon Gledhill, defending Samuels, said that she was not familiar with the road, the A414, and was using a sat-nav for directions.
Sentencing Samuels to eight months’ imprisonment and banning her from driving for two years and four months, Judge Michael Kay QC said: "You did not see Mrs Mills. You did not stop and you collided with her bicycle and she was knocked off. Very tragically she died from her injuries.
"You stopped and you were distraught and you were heard to repeatedly say: 'I didn't see her. I didn't see her.'
"There is nothing I can say or do which can restore a life to a bereaved family. My heart goes out to them."
One of Mrs Mills’ three children, Josh, said that she had started cycling as a hobby, adding, "We will miss her dearly,"
Her husband Kevin said: "We had been married for almost 25 years. We had planned our first holiday together 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."
Samuels was a founder member of M.O. when it was formed in 2012. Two years later, the group was the main support act on Little Mix on their Salute Tour in Britain and Ireland, and this year achieved their second UK top 20 single.