Dad jailed for 10 years for manslaughter of autistic son killed by car on M62
Matthew Rycroft crashed his Audi while driving drunk with son Callum as a passenger.
A man whose son was killed as they tried to cross a busy motorway together following a drink-driving crash has been jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Callum Rycroft, 12, was struck by a car and killed on the M62 while attempting to run across with his dad Matthew Rycroft on August 5.
Leeds Crown Court heard Rycroft, 37, had earlier crashed his car into a barrier and overturned it while drunk.
The pair had then walked along the motorway for 0.7 miles before crossing to the central reservation – with Rycroft falling over at one point, and being helped up by his son.
But when his father darted back across the carriageway and made it to the hard shoulder, Callum ran directly into the path of an oncoming Toyota.
Rycroft was later found by police hiding in a bush at the side of the road.
On Friday, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after previously pleading guilty to manslaughter, driving dangerously and failing to provide a specimen.
In a victim impact statement, Callum’s mother Claire Bancroft said Rycroft’s ‘selfishness’ had ‘torn the family apart’ and let down his son, who was born with spina bifida and diagnosed with autism at the age of four.
Ms Bancroft, who has since split up with Rycroft over their son’s death, said: ‘Callum was with Matt – someone he trusted the most. Someone who should have kept him safe and brought him home.’
She said the 12-year-old ‘would follow (his father) everywhere’ and ‘worshipped the ground he walked on’.
Her statement continued: ‘I saw a bright future for Callum, I just know he would have achieved anything, and I am certain he would have got a good job, he would have been so good with anything practical.
‘What makes matters worse, if that could be possible, is that my children have lost their dad as well as their brother and they know Callum is not here because of their dad.’
Sentencing Rycroft, Judge Guy Kearl KC, the Recorder of Leeds, said: ‘Not content with placing yourself, Callum and other road users in danger by the standard of your driving, you attempted to escape the scene by running away.
‘You fell at one point, he picked you up. Worse than that, you then elected to take your son across a very busy stretch of motorway, which, knowing his limitations as you did, and his age, and his vulnerabilities, you had to have been aware that would cause him confusion and fear.
‘You deliberately placed Callum in a situation where his chances of another safe crossing were slim at best.’
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