Hit and run driver who maimed cyclist gets one year driving ban

A HIT-AND-RUN driver who left a cyclist with life-changing injuries has been jailed for six months.

Driver Richard Malia, who had earlier been drinking in Derby city centre, left Tyrone Tunnicliffe with a fractured spine and a pelvis in the accident eight months ago, Derby Crown Court heard.

Mr Tunnicliffe needed two major operations, had metal plates inserted and is still unable to walk unaided.

Malia, 21, was travelling at 80mph along Manor Road, which has a 40mph limit, when he hit 35-year-old Mr Tunnicliffe from behind, throwing the cyclist from his bike.

His Audi A3 then veered over to the opposite side of the dual carriageway and hit a parked car before speeding off in the wrong direction, said prosecutor Sherrall Pickford.

Jailing him for six months, Recorder Stephen Eyre said: "I have to sentence you for an appalling piece of driving which had serious consequences for the man you knocked off his bike.

"You drove at 80mph at night, in a 40mph limit, no doubt also having been drinking earlier in the evening, and caused serious injuries to Mr Tunnicliffe."

Malia was also banned from driving for a year and will have to pass an extended test to recover his licence.