Soldier jailed for causing death of cyclist by dangerous driving in North Yorkshire
Sophie Waugh has been jailed for six years and eight months after pleading guilty at Teesside Crown Court
Last updated 1st May 2025
A soldier has been jailed for nearly 7 years for causing the death of a cyclist by dangerous driving in North Yorkshire.
31 year old Sophie Waugh from Broadway West, Dormanstown, Redcar, hit Ian Morris in June 2023. The 71-year-old died at the scene.
She also received a driving ban of five and a half years and must undertake an extended driving test. These come into effect only when she is released from prison.
On the afternoon of Wednesday 28 June 2023, Mr Morris was cycling on the A6055 Leeming Lane near Kirklington.
Waugh, a serving soldier with the Royal Logistics Corp of the British Army, had left her place of work at Alanbrooke Barracks at around 2pm to return home.
Mr Morris was cycling northbound when Waugh, travelling in the same direction, struck the rear of Mr Morris’ bicycle.
At around 2.24pm, the emergency services were alerted to the collision by a member of the public.
During Waugh’s journey whilst driving alone, Digital Forensic Unit officers were able to prove that she had been using her smartphone prolifically up to the point of the collision.
This included the locking and unlocking of her device 10 times, 13 outgoing messages from Facebook Messenger and six outgoing messages from Snapchat.
Overall, there had been 34 incoming and outgoing messages during this time.
The digital evidence report showed that the handset had locked at 2.24pm with the Instagram app on the screen.
"Our pain may dim, but our lives with never be the same again"
In a statement Mr Morris’ wife, Pauline said: 'Ian Morris was my husband of nearly 50 years, a father to my two sons, a doting grandfather to our four beautiful grandchildren, and a close friend to many. His death has been a loss so great; words will not do it justice.
The very act of having to write this statement, has been a heart-breaking and emotional rollercoaster for the family and brought back all the memories of 28th June 2023.
As a family we now measure things by what we will never do again or not be able to do, from a family walk or a game of golf, to those lifelong dreams or holidays, through to birthdays or university graduations or key milestone events that Ian will not be a part of.
Not knowing so many of the details around the accident has been very difficult, looking for forms of closure has been impossible in the 17 months since we lost him.
Our lives have been on hold since that day, we are stuck in limbo, waiting for the truth, waiting for the line in the sand, waiting for an explanation, waiting for some understanding. We are still finding a way to live as a family without him, to manage the loss, to hold on tightly to the memories, to talk of him often, to keep him in our hearts without it breaking them.
But it will never be over for us, the pain may dim, but our lives will never be the same again.
Detective Constable Laura Cleary, from the Major Collision Investigation Team, said:“Waugh claimed during police interview that she had not seen Mr Morris on his bicycle and even suggested that he must have swerved out in front of her car.
“Witnesses to the collision challenged her version of events, stating that Mr Morris was riding normally and wearing a long-sleeved fluorescent green cycling jersey and had a flashing red light on the rear of his bicycle at the time of the collision.
“They said it was Waugh’s car that had veered towards Mr Morris.
“Thankfully, Waugh has now admitted causing death by dangerous driving and accepts that she was driving while using a mobile phone.
“This is one of the ‘Fatal 5’ factors in such collisions, the others being careless driving, drink and drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and speeding.
“The horrific consequences of being distracted by mobile phones are plain to see in this case.
“This is a stark wake-up call for anyone who is tempted to use their phones while in control of a vehicle.
“Our thoughts remain with Mr Morris’ family who have been left devastated by this wholly avoidable tragedy.”