Drug addict jailed for killing 71-year-old cyclist in Stroud.
A drug addict who killed a 71-year-old cyclist while trying to escape police has been jailed for more than five years.
Daryl Ackland, 36, crashed into Joseph Marchant on Bisley Road, Stroud, on 27 October.
Ackland, of Target Close, had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and having no insurance.
He was on bail at the time for earlier offences of driving under the influence of illegal drugs and possessing heroin.
Ackland was said to be trying to get away from police who had seen him at the wheel a few moments earlier.
Judge Jamie Tabor at Gloucester Crown Court described Mr Marchant as an "exceptional man" who lived by the motto "do ordinary things extraordinarily well".
He said: "You killed him quite accidentally but through sheer recklessness. It was due to your own selfishness, pursuing your own lifestyle addicted to drugs and not caring at all for your fellow human beings."
Mr Marchant's son, Bodie Klein, described his father as an "accomplished artist" and losing him was "tragic".
Ackland was jailed for five years and four months and banned from driving for six years.