A van driver who killed a cyclist when he ploughed into her at 60mph after his sister sent photos of a family barbecue to his mobile phone was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving today.
Shayne Hill, 32, had been accused of being ‘engaged with his phone’ for ten seconds before he crashed into Cheryl Tye, 54, without seeing her on the A11 dual carriageway at Roudham, near Thetford in Norfolk.
Ms Tye, who was taking part in a time trial, was thrown into the air and hit the windscreen of Hill’s blue Citroen Dispatch van before landing on the road as her bike and helmet shattered into pieces.
Other motorists stopped and tried to revive her with CPR, Norwich Crown Court was told last week, but she was pronounced dead at the scene after her death from multiple injuries on the morning of Sunday, June 26, 2022.
Hill told a woman who stopped to help: ‘I was looking for my drink. I didn’t even see her. What will I get?’
But the court heard how Hill’s sister had sent him around 25 photos on WhatsApp showing a family barbecue that had taken place the previous day.
Prosecutor Nick Bleaney said the images were ‘sent in ones and twos over a few minutes’ from 9.13am on the day of the crash.
Hill, of Norwich, had admitted causing death by careless driving but a trial took place because the prosecution brought the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, which he denied.
Members of his family gasped and wept with relief as he was cleared of the more serious offence, which carries a maximum jail term of 14 years.
Judge Anthony Bate thanked jurors for their efforts, saying: ‘These cases are always very difficult to deal with. They are very sensitive and sad.’
Hill is due to return to court on October 3 to be sentenced for the lesser charge, which has a sentencing limit of five years.
A member of Ms Tye’s family made no comment as they left court.
The court heard how Hill told police he was using his phone in a holder as a satellite navigation device and could see the message notifications flashing up.
But he added that the notifications were partially obscuring his screen so he had to clear them by touching the screen so he could see his phone clearly.
Mr Bleaney told the jury: ‘He would tell the police that he had been distracted by his mobile phone and at the crucial moment had been looking down to pick up a drinks bottle on the passenger seat next to him.’
The court heard how phone expert Gemma Wilson had examined Hill’s iPhone 12 after the accident and was able to calculate from the movement of its recorded signal that he had been driving within the speed limit at around 60mph.
She estimated that the collision happened at 9.35am and 45 seconds, when his van suddenly ‘started to slow down dramatically’.
Mr Bleaney told the jury: ‘For approximately ten seconds prior to the slowing down, the defendant was engaged with his phone and doing that speed. He would have travelled over 300 yards.
‘You will probably appreciate that if you are not looking at what is going on for ten seconds and covering 300 yards, that is not a momentary lack of attention. It is a long period of time for a driver to not be focusing.
‘It is not in dispute that Mr Hill was driving and was responsible for her death. He accepts he is guilty of causing death by careless driving.
‘The Crown’s case is that if you are not paying attention for ten seconds covering 300 yards and hit someone in the back, it’s not careless driving, it’s dangerous because it falls far below the standards of a careful motorist.’
Ms Tye, a former manager of Hadleigh Town Council in Suffolk, was killed as she was taking part in a 50-mile trial event organised by Breckland Cycling Club which involved riding on a section on the A11 between Snetterton and Thetford, Norfolk.
She was said to be wearing white and yellow top with flashing lights on her front and back when the crash happened on a straight section of the road with good visibility in fine weather conditions.
Hill was tested at the scene for alcohol and drugs and was found to ‘be clean in relation to both’. But he was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, said Mr Bleaney.
He added: ‘The issue comes down to how it was and why it was that Mr Hill did not see this lady, despite her being there to be seen. She was entitled to be there.’
Hill stated in his first interview with police that he could not avoid her and there was a collision.
Mr Bleaney added: ‘For whatever reason, for a considerable period of time, he cannot have been paying attention because otherwise he would have just moved around her.’
British Army employee Stuart Osbourne, who was driving home at the time of the crash, said he had moved into the fast lane to avoid Ms Hill and believed the driver of a blue van ahead of him had plenty of time to do the same.
He added in a statement: ‘The blue vehicle was making no attempt to move out. I could see it getting closer and closer to the cyclist and still not making any attempt to move out.
‘As I passed the van, I heard a crunch. I looked in my rear view mirror and could see the cyclist on the floor…
‘I could clearly see the cyclist from a good distance. I cannot think why the driver of the other vehicle did not see her.’
Mr Osbourne said he immediately stopped and told the van driver who had jumped out ‘What the f*** do you think you are doing?’ and he replied ‘I didn’t see her’.
He found Ms Tye lying on her side, not breathing and bleeding from her arm, and gave her CPR with the help of another woman for around 20 minutes.
Another driver, Charlotte Spinks, who was with her parents and ten-year-old daughter in a Range Rover Evoque, described the weather as ‘bright and sunny’ with good visibility.
She said she had overtaken cyclists taking part in the event before seeing the blue van failing to move over for another cyclist ahead.
Ms Spinks said: ‘I gave him enough time and distance to move but [he] made no movement at all.’
Shortly after overtaking the van, she heard a ‘bang’ and saw the cyclist being thrown into the air when she looked in her wing mirror.
Her mother, Margaret, ran to help Ms Tye and said all the cyclists had been riding ‘well to the left’ of the left-hand lane.
Mrs Spinks described Ms Tye’s helmet and carbon fibre bike being ‘shattered’ into pieces, with debris lying in the road.
But the court heard how Hill was standing next to her while on the phone and told her: ‘I am trying to ring my boss. I was looking for my drink. I didn’t even see her. What will I get?’
She added: ‘I was shocked at what he said and I moved away.’
