‘Our dad was killed by a driver using her phone’

The family of a cyclist killed by a driver who had been sending messages on her phone before the crash have called for tougher prison sentences.

Ian Morris, 71, was knocked off his bike by a car being driven by Sophie Waugh while he was out for a ride in North Yorkshire in June 2023.

Mother-of two and serving soldier Waugh, 31, from Redcar, who had been using Snapchat and Facebook in the minutes before the collision, was later jailed for six years and eight months.

Speaking for the first time since the sentencing hearing, Mr Morris’ wife and son said more severe punishments were needed to stop drivers flouting the law.

Tim Morris, from Bedale in North Yorkshire, said: “It just makes me angry that someone could be on the phone so much, it’s reckless.”

Pauline Morris, who had been married to Ian for almost 50 years, added: “I think the law needs to change.

“There needs to be a more severe penalty for people to realise it affects other people’s lives and their own. Everyone thinks it will never happen to them but the reality is it did. I’ve lost my husband for nothing and that’s what I don’t understand.”

Waugh, who had been serving in the British Army, was jailed at Teesside Crown Court in February after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

Det Con Laura Cleary, of North Yorkshire Police, said examination of the driver’s phone showed the extent of its use.

She said: “There were some 13 outgoing Facebook messages and six outgoing Snapchat messages in the 12 minutes prior to the collision.”

Mr Morris, a father of two with four grandchildren, had been cycling on the A6055 Leeming Lane near Kirklington when he was killed.

His son said: “He was a quiet man, but he did everything at 100%, he was a perfectionist, just an all-round nice guy who enjoyed his family and his grandkids. He just embraced being alive.

“None of us got to say goodbye. I have two small children who miss their grandad immensely. Those memories are over far too soon.”

Mrs Morris added: “I think in the first year [after he died] I just thought he would come back in through the door and then you realise that’s not true.”

Royal Logistics Corps servicewoman Waugh had been driving her Ford Focus home from Alanbrooke Barracks near Thirsk on the day of the crash.

Mr Morris was cycling in front of her, to the left of the carriageway, and was wearing a green luminous top.

Witnesses saw Waugh veer to the left of the road, crashing into Mr Morris, and afterwards she claimed she had not seen him.

It is illegal to hold and use a mobile phone while driving in the UK.

The law was strengthened under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, when the maximum penalty for causing death by dangerous driving rose from 14 years imprisonment to a life term.

The government told the BBC it is now planning to publish a new road safety strategy.

In a statement, the Ministry of Justice said: “This was a terrible crime and our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Ian Morris.

“Dangerous driving destroys lives. Reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority, and that is why we have announced our intention to publish a new road safety strategy, the first in over a decade.”