A GRANDFATHER less than a mile from the end of an endurance cycle died at Southampton hospital after a car crash caused by a single mum distracted by her children squabbling.

Richard Ellis, 58, was hit by Laura Brayshaw's Nissan Almera on April 3 last year as he neared the end of the 130-mile Audax race.

Brayshaw, who was driving at around 50 miles per hour at the time of the crash, had turned to tell the youngest of her three children off for throwing popcorn.

Mr Ellis, an experienced rider who cycled around 10,000km a year, was travelling in the opposite direction to Brayshaw's vehicle.

However, while the defendant was distracted, her car left the road to the nearside and mounted a verge before careering across the carriageway and hitting the victim.

Still out of control, it moved back onto the other side of the road and crashed into a garden, hitting a parked car.

Mr Ellis suffered serious injuries to his leg and pelvis.

He was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital following the crash on the A352 Worgret Hill, in Dorset, but his wife and daughters were forced to make the "heartbreaking" decision to turn off his life support two days later.

Less than five months after the crash, Brayshaw was charged with driving under the influence of drugs after combining anti-depressants and painkillers with wine. She had taken around 18 pills, it was heard, including six Diazepam tablets.

Two of her children were in the back seat of the car when police stopped her at around 11pm on August 28.

A witness called officers to report that a Ford Focus was being driven "erratically" and the lights hadn't been switched on.

A number of victim impact statements were read aloud during a sentencing hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday.

Mr Ellis's widow Catherine said she "cannot forgive" Brayshaw, adding: "It appears that she thinks she is above the law."

Mr and Mrs Ellis had met as teenagers in 1973 and married in 1978.

They had three daughters and three grandchildren.

One of the victim's daughters, Natasha, said: "The irresponsible and reckless actions of the driver have caused a world of suffering for the Ellis family."

Middle daughter Nicola Starkey wept as she read her statement aloud to the court.

"Not only has she robbed me of my dad, she has also robbed my son of his granddad," Ms Starkey said.

"She chose to get distracted by her children and turned around, taking her eyes off the road and ultimately taking the life of my dad."

Brayshaw, 27 and of Queen's Road in Portland, admitted causing death by careless driving and driving while unfit through drugs.

Mitigating, Tim Shorter said the "certainty" is that Mr Ellis was killed "because [Brayshaw's] vehicle was out of control".

"She turned momentarily to give her attention to squabbling children," he said.

"I venture to suggest that it's something many people in this country and other countries have done with impunity."

Brayshaw, a carer at Dorset County Hospital, had passed her test around six months before the fatal crash, he said.

The August offence took place as the defendant "failed to cope" with Mr Ellis's death, the court heard.

"She made the mistake of drinking a couple of glasses of wine and taking too many pills," Mr Shorter said.

"She doesn't know what was in her mind. She just wanted it to stop.

"It didn't, of course."

He called for Judge Peter Crabtree OBE to spare the defendant a jail sentence, arguing: "To take her away from her children would simply pile tragedy upon tragedy."

However, the judge said the offences are "simply too serious for anything other than an immediate custodial sentence".

He sentenced Brayshaw to 20 weeks in prison, as well as a 20-month driving ban.