A driver three times over the legal limit for a by-product of cocaine use was driving his two children to football practice when he hit and killed a cyclist while distracted and searching for a song on his phone, Matthew Bates this week jailed for three years and nine months for causing the "utterly avoidable death".
A reporter from Leicestershire Live was at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday to hear how Bates killed Colin Banks, 64, and initially blamed the collision on the cyclist having hit the kerb and swerved into his path, something which was later disproved by collision investigators after one of the driver's sons told paramedics: "Daddy was trying to get a song on that he liked. He didn't see a bike and we hit it."
Mr Banks suffered a severe head injury and died in hospital. He had recently retired as a university lab assistant and was hit as he cycled on the B4114 Coventry Road near Sharnford at just before 10am on Sunday 30 January 2022.
After the collision the investigation began, Bates's Audi on its side in a ditch and the driver claiming the cyclist had hit the kerb and swerved, meaning the impact was unavoidable. However, investigators examined the scene and noted that the evidence in fact suggested it was Bates who had made contact with the side of the road and mounted a grass verge before swerving into the road and hitting Mr Banks.
The cyclist was doing nothing wrong and the prosecutor, Victoria Rose, told the court: "If he [Bates] had been looking, Mr Banks was there to be seen and nothing on the road surface or layout were contributing factors in the collision."
The local press reports how the court heard the investigation was assisted by the fact Bates's eight-year-old son told a paramedic his dad had been "trying to get a song on that he liked" and "he didn't see a bike and we hit it". Subsequent analysis of the driver's phone, which was found in a footwell, established there was a Bluetooth connection between it and the vehicle, and the Twitter (X) app, a folder and a music app had been opened and closed between 9.53am and the moment of the collision
Having initially denied causing death by dangerous driving, an offence he was charged with, Bates later pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the drug-driving limit, after it emerged his blood contained over three times the legal limit for a by-product of cocaine use.
The judge Timothy Spencer KC sentenced Bates to three years and nine months in prison and told the court the sentence "is not meant to be a measure of the value of the life of Colin Banks".
"All human life is invaluable and he [Mr Banks] made a particularly valuable contribution to society and to his family," the judge said, banning Bates from driving for five years following his release, expected to come halfway through his 45-month sentence.
Detective Constable Paul Hicks, from Leicestershire Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) was the officer in the case and commented: "During the investigation, it became evident that Bates was most likely distracted by trying to use his phone while driving. Benzoylecgonine – the main metabolite of cocaine – was also in his system.
"The fact that there were two young children in the car at the time – when his focus was not on the road ahead – is alarming. Sadly, Mr Banks's family are still having to live with the consequences of his actions, but I hope this case serves as a warning to others who think it's okay to use a phone or other electronic device behind the wheel. While you think you're not doing anything wrong, it goes to show that your actions could have fatal consequences."
Mr Banks's sister-in-law Annalisa told the court via a statement that his "untimely and utterly avoidable death" had "devastated his family and his friends" and "words cannot describe the horror we felt on hearing about the brutal nature of his passing".
Speaking about his career (which saw him work for 32 years as a lab technician at Warwick University) and additional role as a popular Scout leader, she added that he "helped shape the lives of hundreds of young people" and said the family had been "robbed of a loving, gentle and thoughtful soul".
Following the arrest, Bates separated from his wife and no longer lived at the family home, moving back in with his mother but maintaining regular contact with his children.