A paramedic who drank 10 pints of Guinness before ploughing into a cyclist at 60mph as he drove to a house party has been jailed for causing his death.
Robert Woodruff, 36, who was off-duty at the time, ignored his wife’s pleas not to drive to the gathering seven miles away despite being at least twice the drink-drive limit.
His Nissan Juke crashed into cyclist Richard Goodwin, 56, as he was cycling home along the A1033 in East Yorkshire, killing him instantly.
Woodruff was jailed at Hull Crown Court for five years and four months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
The court heard Mr Goodwin was dressed appropriately and clearly visible as he cycled home from a friend’s barbeque on 26 June last year.
Woodruff was seen driving dangerously close to the car ahead of him, leaving only an estimated half-second gap between the two vehicles.
He tried to overtake, narrowly avoided hitting an oncoming vehicle, swerved and hit Mr Goodwin on his bicycle, killing him instantly.
Woodruff’s car travelled down a verge, over a ditch and hurtled through trees and undergrowth, before stopping in the front garden of a nearby cottage, 100m away.
Nearly three hours later in hospital, Woodruff’s blood alcohol level was still twice the drink-drive limit.
Jeremy Evans from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Words cannot adequately describe the absolute devastation and heartbreak this defendant has caused to the Goodwin family.
“Woodruff was a serving paramedic and a trained emergency response driver. His unbelievably reckless actions that day are completely beyond comprehension.
“Equally, it is hard to imagine a more complete betrayal of the values of his profession as a paramedic.
“Our hearts go out to the whole of the Goodwin family, and we hope that the sentence Woodruff is beginning today will be of some comfort to them in the months and years ahead.
“Our thoughts remain with them.”
Woodruff was disqualified from driving for seven years and eight months and must pass an extended test before he can drive again.
SWNS
