Van driver jailed over Whitchurch moped crash

A van driver who killed a priest's son when he knocked the teenager off his moped has been jailed.

Macaully Sutcliffe, 16, was hit by Mohammed Zaman's van near Whitchurch, Hampshire, in October.

Zaman, 32, from Reading, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

His father, Anglican priest Richard Sutcliffe, said his son's life had been cut "cruelly short".

In a statement he said: "No court sentence can help to fill the gap left following the death of Mac."

Hampshire police said Zaman "failed to abide by the give-way signs" at the junction of Bloswood Lane and Harroway.

"He had seen the moped was indicating but told police in interview he had misinterpreted the direction of the indication," a force spokesman said.

The judge at Winchester Crown Court said all the fault for the collision lay with Zaman and praised the teenager's "exemplary riding", police added.

Fr Sutcliffe, assistant benefice priest at St Mary Bourne near Andover, paid tribute to his son.

In a statement, he said: "As well as missing his presence now, we have huge regrets for his future that was so cruelly cut short.

"We are enormously proud of the fine young man that he had become. He touched many people and we all miss him dreadfully."

As well as being jailed, Zaman, of Wimborne Gardens, was banned from driving for two years with a 10-month extension.