Unlicensed lorry driver faces jail for killing cyclist

A lorry driver who had no driving licence or insurance when he killed a cyclist has been told that it is “inevitable” that he will face jail after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

Josephine Gilbert, aged 25 and from Wirksworth in the Peak District, died from head injuries sustained when she was hit by a lorry driven by 64-year-old Herbert Wyatt of Leicester on 21 January this year, reports the Derbyshire Telegraph.

The fatal crash happened on the A52 Ashbourne Road close to the Markeaton Island roundabout in Derby.

Besides pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, Wyatt also admitted causing death by driving a vehicle while uninsured and causing death by dangerous driving while unlicensed.

Judge Jonathan Bennett told him: “You have pleaded guilty today to three matters. Of course they are extremely serious offences, primarily count one causing the death of Josephine Gilbert by dangerous driving on January 21, this year.

“You pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. That will be reflected in the inevitable prison sentence you are going to get.

“It is only fair in the circumstances that I allow your advocate to put together mitigation which may include medical evidence, but that is a matter you need to discuss today and tomorrow.”

Wyatt, who is due to be sentenced on Friday 18 December, was granted unconditional bail.

Following her death, Ms Gilbert’s family released a statement in which she was described as “a keen cyclist who competed at local, national and international level and who was hoping to follow a career in sports management, having completed a psychology degree at Loughborough University.”