A woman who told police she thought she’d hit a fox after she killed a cyclist in a hit-and-run has been jailed for five years.
Emma Moughan, 42, from Selby, North Yorks, was ten times the limit for cocaine and twice the drink-drive limit when she mowed down Patrick Hird last year.
Moughan hit the 61-year-old who was cycling to work so hard he crashed into the roof of her Mercedes Benz and fell onto the side of the road.
He was found by a passing motorist and pronounced dead at the scene.
Moughan continued driving from the scene with a smashed windscreen and on the rims of her wheels as her tyres were wrecked in the crash, York Crown Court heard.
The noise of the wheels attracted police attention. Moughan was stopped and breathalysed, and when asked about the collision she told officers she thought she'd hit a fox.
Judge Simon Hickey handed Moughan a five-year jail term and a six-year driving ban, telling her no sentence "could possibly do justice in the family's eyes". Prosecutor Carmel Pearson said the collision took place just after midnight on October 11 last year.
Moughan had been drinking and taking drugs when an argument with her partner prompted her to flee.
She had intended to drive ten miles from her home to her mother's house.
But she collided with Mr Hird who was riding his motorised pedal bike, wearing a yellow high-vis jacket, to a night shift at a factory.
Ms Pearson said the bicycle had front and back lights making him visible for more than half a kilometre.
When a motorist found Mr Hird on the side of the country road he tried to resuscitate him. He was later pronounced dead due to head and spinal injuries.
Police analysed CCTV of Moughan's driving into Selby which showed the Mercedes being driven straight over a mini-roundabout and damaging a kerb after passing across a traffic island.
Mr Hirst’s DNA was found on the roof of Moughan's car and a missing part of the Mercedes' front bumper at the scene of the collision.
Ms Pearson also said the car had a bent steering rod and snapped suspension arm, "such was the impact of the collision".
She added that an investigation showed the Mercedes had "straddled the grass verge at the point of impact, proving [Moughan] was far to the left of the carriageway when she collided with [Mr Hird]".
Moughan was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving, and later released under investigation.
But two months later, police found her slumped in another damaged car, heavily drunk.
The second incident took place on December 1, when a member of the public called police to report a woman who had "passed out" in a Fiat Punto.
At the scene, Police found damage to the car "consistent with a road traffic accident".
Moughan underwent a roadside breath test which showed she was over three times the drink-drive limit.
She was arrested again and charged with driving without due care and attention, failing to provide a specimen for analysis, failing to stop following an accident and failing to report an accident.
She was given a community order and a two-year driving ban for those offences and appeared in court on Monday, knowing she was destined for jail after pleading guilty to causing the death of Mr Hird.
Speaking at the hearing, Mr Hirst's sister Lorraine McCulloch said her family had been devastated by the death of her brother, who had lived next door to her for 25 years.
She said her mother, who had bought Mr Hird the bike on which he had died, "couldn't handle" the death of her beloved son.
She said her brother had lost his wife nine years ago following a blood clot on the brain.
She added: "I'll never get over losing my big brother and mum will never get over losing her son."
Neil Cutte, mitigating, said Moughan had never been in trouble before her first conviction in December, had been in full-time employment and was previously "highly thought of".
However, he said there were "issues bubbling under the surface with her mental health" following a difficult previous relationship and she turned to drink and drugs.
In sentencing Moughan, Judge Hickey said: "It's a tragedy that was completely avoidable."
He told Moughan that in her drunk and drugged state, she had "effectively" driven a "weapon" for at least seven miles before the collision with Mr Hird, who had "no chance".
He said it was "incredible" that Moughan had been able to drive from the crash scene to Selby with a smashed windscreen and described the effect on Mr Hird's family as "nothing short of immense".
