Addenbrooke's: Tanker driver sentenced over cyclist's death

Anna Garratt-Quinton was "the kindest soul", her family said

A fuel tanker driver has been sentenced after admitting killing a cyclist near the hospital she worked at.

Physiotherapist Anna Garratt-Quinton, 22, died near Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge on 7 October 2021.

Peterborough Magistrates' Court was told Richard Hardcastle, 28, attempted to turn left at a roundabout but hit and killed Ms Garratt-Quinton.

Hardcastle, of Hertford, was given a six-month suspended prison term for causing death by careless driving.

Prosecutor Mouzam Razaq told the court Hardcastle had been travelling behind Ms Garratt-Quinton and that police believed she was going straight over the roundabout.

"The defendant has failed to stop and give way to the pedal cyclist," he said.

Ms Garratt-Quinton was declared dead at the scene.

The court heard a series of emotional victim impact statements, including one read by Ms Garratt-Quinton's aunt on behalf of the victim's mother Sally.

Police sealed off the Hills Road roundabout outside the main entrance to Addenbrooke's Hospital following the collision

She said it was "hard to convey here in a few words how special she was... I know all parents think their children are special, but the mark Anna made in her short 22 years of life are borne out in the tributes to her".

The court heard her hospital colleagues had been "devastated", with one calling her "one of the kindest and most caring souls I was fortunate enough to have known and worked with".

Her partner of four years, Jordan Hemsil, said "she made my life better just by being in it".

Jason Stevens, defending counsel for Hardcastle, said he had "apologised profusely for what had happened".

Mr Stevens told the court Hardcastle, who had no previous convictions, had been a HGV driver for seven years, but did not plan on returning to the profession.

Judge Ken Sheraton thanked the family for their statements and said "I can only imagine their grief".

He said there had been a "period of some seconds when Mr Hardcastle should have been aware" of Ms Garratt-Quinton.

But he acknowledged the defendant had "obvious remorse".

Hardcastle was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and was disqualified from driving for two years.

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