Victim's family call for people not to drink drive this Christmas

By Kris Jepson

The family of a County Durham cyclist killed when he was hit by a car in Cholsey, Oxfordshire, last June have told ITV News they want everybody to avoid drink driving this Christmas.

Watch @krisjepson's report here:

Scientist, Dr Graham Ruecroft, 54, originally from Trimdon, was hit by a car when he was cycling home on the 4 June last year. The driver then fled the crash site leaving him to die on the roadside.

Graham's brother, Malcolm, told ITV News people should get a taxi instead of drink driving because one drink is not worth one person's life.

Twenty-eight-year-old Maria Sutton had been drinking all afternoon with friends and then decided to drive home. After hitting Graham she fled and then called the police.

Instead of reporting that she had seriously injured him, she tried to cover up what she had done and claimed her car had been stolen.

Sutton was twice over the prescribed alcohol limit at the time of the collision. Dr Ruecroft, an expert in pharmaceutical drugs, died of his head injuries in hospital five days after being left for dead.

Maria Sutton admitted drink driving and perverting the course of justice at Oxford Crown Court and was handed a four year prison sentence and disqualified from driving for eight years.

For Graham's family this will be their second Christmas without him and that is a tough reality they have to face each day.