Carol Boardman: Driver who killed mother of cyclist Chris Boardman in crash after phone call is jailed

'Any accident which results in someone losing their life is the most appalling tragedy,' Liam Rosney told

Liam Rosney, who has been jailed for 30 weeks at Mold Crown Court for causing the death by careless driving of Carol Boardman (PA)

A motorist who ran over and killed the mother of Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman after ending a phone call has been jailed for 30 weeks.

Liam Rosney, 33, pleaded guilty in December to causing the death by careless driving of Carol Boardman, shortly before his trial was due to start.

On Thursday, Judge Rhys Rowlands sentenced him to 30 weeks in prison and disqualified him from driving for 18 and a half months at Mold Crown Court.

Ms Boardman was described as a “pretty remarkable woman” and Judge Rowlands said the crash “could easily been prevented”.

He told Rosney: “Your contribution to that accident is significant in as much as you were distracted, the distraction being as a result of you using your mobile phone before the actual collision.

“Any accident which results in someone losing their life is the most appalling tragedy.”

Mrs Boardman, 75, whose cyclist son Chris won gold at the 1992 Olympics, suffered multiple injuries when she was hit by Rosney’s Mitsubishi pick-up truck after falling from her bike on a mini-roundabout in Connah’s Quay, North Wales, on 16 July 2016.

The court was told that that in the minutes before Rosney hit Mrs Boardman he made or received three phone calls while driving his vehicle, which did not have a hands-free facility.

Rosney's lawyer, Oliver Jarvis, said he did not want to "make any excuses for his behaviour".

He said: "He says that he has destroyed the lives of two families and therefore nothing I say will seek to undermine that guilty plea."

The court heard 150 cyclists rode behind the hearse at Ms Boardman's funeral to "demonstrate the love and affection" they had for her.

Chris Boardman argued for a change in the law around careless driving.

Ahead of the hearing he said: "Somebody who takes me swimming in the sea as a kid and races me for signs on a bike and has grandchildren is just taken away because somebody's careless, because they used a mobile phone.

"Our legal system thinks that's OK, and it's wrong. I'm pretty certain that the death of my mother, which has been horrifically life-changing among all of our family, won't be enough to change that."

Additional reporting by PA