Paramedic kills cyclist in crash after 10 pints of Guinness

Steve Hopkins

Robert Woodruff crashed into Richard Goodwin as he was cycling home along the A1033 in East Yorkshire

A paramedic who sank 10 pints of Guinness before ploughing into a cyclist at 60mph as he drove to a house party has been jailed for causing his death.

Robert Woodruff, who was off-duty at the time, ignored his wife’s pleas to not drive to the gathering seven miles away despite being at least twice the drink-drive limit.

The 36-year-old’s Nissan Juke crashed into 56-year-old Richard Goodwin as he was cycling home along the A1033 in East Yorkshire, killing him instantly.

Woodruff was this week jailed at Hull Crown Court for five years and four months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

The court heard Goodwin was dressed appropriately and clearly visible as he cycled home from a friend’s barbeque on June 26 last year.

Woodruff was seen driving dangerously close to the car ahead of him, leaving only an estimated half a second gap between the two vehicles.

He then tried to overtake, narrowly avoided hitting an oncoming vehicle, swerved and hit Goodwin on his bicycle.

Woodruff’s car travelled down a verge, over a ditch and hurtled through trees and undergrowth, before stopping in the front garden of a nearby cottage, 100 metres away.

Nearly three hours later in hospital, Woodruff’s blood alcohol level was still twice the drink-drive limit.

Jeremy Evans from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Words cannot adequately describe the absolute devastation and heartbreak this defendant has caused to the Goodwin family.”

Evans noted that Woodruff ‘s “unbelievably reckless actions that day are completely beyond comprehension”, especially given he is a serving paramedic and a trained emergency response driver: “It is hard to imagine a more complete betrayal of the values of his profession as a paramedic”.

“Our hearts go out to the whole of the Goodwin family, and we hope that the sentence Woodruff is beginning today will be of some comfort to them in the months and years ahead. Our thoughts remain with them,” he added.

Woodruff was disqualified from driving for seven years and eight months and must pass an extended test before he can drive again.