Driver jailed after causing death of 80-year-old man in Cotmanhay collision

A driver who caused the death of an 80-year-old man in Cotmanhay has been jailed for more than three-and-a-half years.

George Phillis was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a collision between an Audi S3 and a Honda Civic on Saturday, February 23, 2019, just after 9.15am in Skeavingtons Lane.

The 80-year-old, who was described as “a wonderful father and husband”, died in hospital three days later.

Last week Aaron Foster, the driver of the Audi S3, appeared at Nottingham Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

At the hearing on Tuesday, 13 October, the 31-year-old of Edale Square, Ilkeston, was handed a 45-month prison sentence as well as also being banned from driving for 58 months. He must also pass an extended test in order to regain his licence.

PC Diane McDermott, from Derbyshire police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “The driving of Foster that morning showed a complete disregard for every other person on the road.

“Mr Phillis was completing a perfectly proper, legal, three-point-turn at the time which, had Foster been driving at the 30mph limit, would have easily been completed.

“Instead Foster was seen to be driving at nearly double the limit - 58mph - just before he smashed into the side of Mr Phillis’s Honda Civic. Despite clearly being the driver in the wrong witnesses to the crash heard Foster shout at Mr Phillis, who was unconscious at the wheel of his car, that he had pulled out on him.

“I want to make it absolutely clear that nothing could be further from the truth, the only person responsible for this collision was Foster.

 “His decision to drive in the manner he did that day has robbed a family of a much-loved father and husband and, while no sentence can repair the hole left by his actions that day, I hope that the jail term Foster has received provides an amount of closure to this most devastating of incidents.

“I also hope that this case makes every driver think about the huge responsibility they take on when they get behind the wheel of a car. While Foster did not set out that day to kill George Phyliss his flagrant disregard for the rules of the road ended with a life being lost that morning.”