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Cyclist's family tell court 'life has changed forever'

Thu, 23 Jul 2015

The family of a cyclist who was killed in Kirk Michael last year say their life has "changed forever".

Yesterday 63-year-old Linda Thompson was handed a suspended prison sentence for causing the death of Kathryn Burge by careless driving on August 4th.

She hit the physiotherapist on Main Road, dragging her underneath her Range Rover until it came to a stop and crashed into a wall - Miss Burge died at the scene.

Victim impact statements were read out in court from the Laxey woman's family - her partner said he'd been left questioning "the point of carrying on" saying her death was "meaningless".

Thompson told police she simply didn't see the cyclist adding "I do not know why. I've asked myself that every day" but admitted her driving before entering the village had been "erratic".

Her advocate told the court it was a "moment of carelessness" adding that she's since been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after struggling to come to terms with the incident.

Deemster Montgomerie said although the custody threshold had been passed there was "just" grounds to suspend it due to concerns her "fragile" mental health would deteriorate in prison. 

Imposing an 18-month term, which took into account other offences, he told the court the value of Miss Burge's life couldn't be measured by any sentence he imposed saying "that life was priceless".

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