Drunk nurse killed cyclist, moved his bike out of the way, A drunk nurse mowed down a 15-year-old boy while driving to work and left him to die – but only after stopping to remove his damaged bicycle from the front of her car.
Heather Butler, 67, was unsteady and slurring her words when she arrived for her shift at a nursing home and a breath-test showed she was two-and-a-half times the legal limit, a court heard.
She was jailed for five years and four months at Hull Crown Court.
Judge Mark Bury told her it ‘would have been obvious’ she had hit the boy and the tragedy was made worse because she was ‘going to work caring for people and possibly giving out medication’ while drunk.
By coincidence Butler knew the victim’s mother because she worked at the same nursing home.
Her Audi A4 car ploughed into schoolboy Sam Brown as he and a friend cycled home in the dark at 9pm without rear lights.
Her windscreen was smashed and wing mirror removed.
She stopped 200 metres on to remove the bike from her grille, threw it aside and continued to work less than a mile away without going back to treat Sam or his 15-year-old friend, who suffered a broken shoulder.
Butler had drunk a glass of wine and ‘three home measures’ of gin and tonic before driving, the court heard.
When she arrived at the Old School House Nursing Home in Gilberdyke, East Yorkshire, she was asked if she was alright and replied: ‘No, I think I hit a cyclist.’
Two colleagues went out in a car, found Sam and tried to help motorists resuscitate him. He died of head injuries in hospital.
The court heard Butler had been reported for being drunk at work in the past and ‘it was rare she did not smell of alcohol’.
Motorist Nicholas Webb was behind Butler at the time of the crash on the B1230 on September 6 last year. He said she was ‘all over the road’ and ‘driving fast’, prompting him to drop back.
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She was speeding and a crash investigation found she did not brake or take evasive action. In a statement to police, Butler recalled ‘seeing a cyclist ahead of me, very close to me, and then I felt the impact at the front of my car.’
Victim: Sam Brown, 15, was thrown off his bicycle after being clipped by Butler's Audi A4 as he cycled with his friend
Victim: Sam Brown who died after being hit by Heather Butler's Audi A4 in Eastrington, East Yorkshire
She added: ‘Following the feeling I pulled over and got out. I could not see anything close to my car. I was in a state of panic and thought I should drive to work and report it at work.
'Sometimes I wish I was not here. The loss is something I will feel for the rest of my life'
Tracey Brown, mother of Sam Brown
‘It never occurred to me to use my mobile phone.’
Butler, who is married and worked at the nursing home for 18 years, admitted causing death by careless driving while over the limit, failing to report an accident and failing to stop.
Paul Genney, defending, said she wanted to apologise. He said: ‘She is genuinely remorseful.’
Butler has resigned and is likely to be struck off the nursing register. Butler was given a five-year driving ban and ordered to take an extended re-test. She is likely to serve only half of her prison term.
Crash scene: Flowers are piled up in tribute to Sam Brown, 15, following the accident on the the B1230 Hull Road last September
In a statement mother-of-four Tracey Brown, 42, said losing Sam was ‘unbearable’.
'Following the feeling I pulled over and got out. I could not see anything close to my car. I was in a state of panic and thought I should drive to work and report it at work'
Heather Butler
She added: ‘Sometimes I wish I was not here. The loss is something I will feel for the rest of my life.’
After the hearing she and husband Stephen, 45, described the sentence as ‘disgusting’.
Franki Hackett of road safety charity Brake said: ‘It is appalling such a callous crime could lead to such a paltry sentence.
‘It makes a mockery of justice that someone could face less than three years in prison for taking a promising young life.’
Heather Butler, 67, was unsteady and slurring her words when she arrived for her shift at a nursing home and a breath-test showed she was two-and-a-half times the legal limit, a court heard.
She was jailed for five years and four months at Hull Crown Court.
Judge Mark Bury told her it ‘would have been obvious’ she had hit the boy and the tragedy was made worse because she was ‘going to work caring for people and possibly giving out medication’ while drunk.
By coincidence Butler knew the victim’s mother because she worked at the same nursing home.
Her Audi A4 car ploughed into schoolboy Sam Brown as he and a friend cycled home in the dark at 9pm without rear lights.
Her windscreen was smashed and wing mirror removed.
She stopped 200 metres on to remove the bike from her grille, threw it aside and continued to work less than a mile away without going back to treat Sam or his 15-year-old friend, who suffered a broken shoulder.
Butler had drunk a glass of wine and ‘three home measures’ of gin and tonic before driving, the court heard.
When she arrived at the Old School House Nursing Home in Gilberdyke, East Yorkshire, she was asked if she was alright and replied: ‘No, I think I hit a cyclist.’
Two colleagues went out in a car, found Sam and tried to help motorists resuscitate him. He died of head injuries in hospital.
The court heard Butler had been reported for being drunk at work in the past and ‘it was rare she did not smell of alcohol’.
Motorist Nicholas Webb was behind Butler at the time of the crash on the B1230 on September 6 last year. He said she was ‘all over the road’ and ‘driving fast’, prompting him to drop back.
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She was speeding and a crash investigation found she did not brake or take evasive action. In a statement to police, Butler recalled ‘seeing a cyclist ahead of me, very close to me, and then I felt the impact at the front of my car.’
Victim: Sam Brown, 15, was thrown off his bicycle after being clipped by Butler's Audi A4 as he cycled with his friend
Victim: Sam Brown who died after being hit by Heather Butler's Audi A4 in Eastrington, East Yorkshire
She added: ‘Following the feeling I pulled over and got out. I could not see anything close to my car. I was in a state of panic and thought I should drive to work and report it at work.
'Sometimes I wish I was not here. The loss is something I will feel for the rest of my life'
Tracey Brown, mother of Sam Brown
‘It never occurred to me to use my mobile phone.’
Butler, who is married and worked at the nursing home for 18 years, admitted causing death by careless driving while over the limit, failing to report an accident and failing to stop.
Paul Genney, defending, said she wanted to apologise. He said: ‘She is genuinely remorseful.’
Butler has resigned and is likely to be struck off the nursing register. Butler was given a five-year driving ban and ordered to take an extended re-test. She is likely to serve only half of her prison term.
Crash scene: Flowers are piled up in tribute to Sam Brown, 15, following the accident on the the B1230 Hull Road last September
In a statement mother-of-four Tracey Brown, 42, said losing Sam was ‘unbearable’.
'Following the feeling I pulled over and got out. I could not see anything close to my car. I was in a state of panic and thought I should drive to work and report it at work'
Heather Butler
She added: ‘Sometimes I wish I was not here. The loss is something I will feel for the rest of my life.’
After the hearing she and husband Stephen, 45, described the sentence as ‘disgusting’.
Franki Hackett of road safety charity Brake said: ‘It is appalling such a callous crime could lead to such a paltry sentence.
‘It makes a mockery of justice that someone could face less than three years in prison for taking a promising young life.’
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