Stickney crash: Driver jailed for killing man tending injured deer
GoogleA motorist who hit a man who had stopped to help an injured deer has been jailed over the fatal crash.
Geoffrey Saville got out of his car on Midville Road in Stickney, Lincolnshire, after he spotted the animal lying in the road.
He was in "the process of lifting the deer" when he was hit by David Eldridge, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
Eldridge, who admitted causing death by careless driving, was jailed for six months.
The defendant, of Scrub Hill, near Coningsby, was also banned from driving for two years and three months.
Mr Saville, who suffered head and chest injuries, had turned around after spotting the deer and parked in front of it with his lights on, the court heard.
Daren Samat, prosecuting, told the court: "Mr Saville walked towards the animal. It must have been alive because he knelt down and stroked it."
Mr Saville's wife was in the passenger seat of his car when it was knocked off the road by the impact, the court was told.
Recorder Graham Huston, sentencing, told Eldridge: "You have not seen a lit vehicle with hazard lights flashing in your carriageway.
"It was a lit obstruction. The road was dead straight. The weather was clear and there was good visibility," he said.
"The prosecution case is that you became distracted by something inside or outside your vehicle.
"It may be because there was a young puppy on the back seat. It may be you fell asleep..., he added."
Dominic Pitter, in mitigation, said Eldridge was unable to explain what happened in February 2019 and was full of remorse.
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