Huddersfield cyclist's widow says life changed forever by careless driving of Brighouse man

Philippine-born Teresita Stoker said in victim impact statement that part of her wanted to hate the man responsible for her husband’s death, but she knew he was human too.

Her comments were shared with Bradford Court Court today as Philip Roper was sentenced to seven months in jail, suspended for a year.

The 58-year-old, of Elland Road, Brighouse, had admitted causing engineer William Stoker’s death by careless driving on the afternoon of January 14, 2016.

Mr Stoker, from Huddersfield, was wearing a red high-visibility jacket as he rode his bike to work along Elland Road, but he suffered fatal injuries when he was struck by Roper’s Citroen C5 car.

The court heard how Roper had been travelling behind a BMW, which was trying to overtake a slower moving Kia car.

Mr Stoker was able to ride past the oncoming BMW but he was hit by the Citroen, which had pulled out further.

Prosecutor Stephen Wood said that although the A6025 was theoretically wide enough to allow the overtaking manoeuvre and leave enough space for an oncoming cyclist, in reality it depended upon the position of the vehicles.

“This collision occurred when the defendant pulled out further into the offside than the BMW and collided with Mr Stoker, who was there to be seen,” he said.

In a victim statement summarised by Mr Wood, Mrs Stoker described her husband of 13 years as her best friend and soulmate.

She said his ashes were laid to rest in the Philippines, where loved ones had organised a sponsored bike ride in his memory.

Mrs Stoker said her home felt totally different now because it was so quiet.

Roper had been due to stand trial on the charge, but last week his solicitors indicated that he would enter a guilty plea.

Barrister Tom Gent, for Roper, said his client was “utterly shattered” by what had happened and was still unable to sleep properly.

Roper, who walks with the aid of a stick, was said to be waiting for an operation and Mr Gent submitted that the defendant’s remorse was genuine.

Judge Durham Hall described Mr Stoker as a fit, hard-working “pillar of society”, before conceding that the sentence would not satisfy the victim’s family or many of the public.

The charge carries a maximum of five years in jail for the most serious incidents involving significant aggravating features, but the court heard the guideline to judges in cases of “momentary inattention” was a community order.

Judge Durham Hall suggested that Roper’s familiarity with the road may have lulled him into a false sense of security and he said most drivers would have chosen to wait for the cyclist to pass.

He said that by pulling out further than the BMW, Roper had put his Citroen straight in the path of Mr Stoker with catastrophic consequences.

“You should have waited,” the judge told Roper. “By the time you saw the cylist, if you saw him at all, it was too late.”

Roper was made subject to an electronically-monitored home curfew for the next five months between 8pm and 8am because he was unfit to do any unpaid work as part of his sentence.

He was also banned from driving for two years.