Hit-and-run driver who killed cyclist, 15, while he was out exercising during lockdown after he bragged to friends about being drunk is jailed for six years

• Milan Gugyel, 34, drank beer and whisky before hitting teenager Adam Barry
• Adam was out for his 30 minutes of exercise while the country was in lockdown 
• Gugyel had been on the phone before he went into the back of Adam’s BMX bike 

A hit-and-run driver who killed a 15-year-old cyclist and left him to die after bragging to his friends about being drunk has been jailed for six years.

Milan Gugyel, 34, spent five hours drinking beer and whisky before hitting Adam Barry who was riding home on his BMX.

The teenager had been out for his 30 minutes of exercise while the country was in strict lockdown measures when he was hit on April 25 last year.

Shortly before the fatal crash, Gugyel, who was on furlough from his lorry driving job, sent texts to his friends boasting about being ‘drunk’.

Adam Barry (pictured) had been out for his 30 minutes of exercise while the country was in strict lockdown measures when he was hit on April 25 last year

Milan Gugyel (above), 34, spent five hours drinking beer and whisky before hitting Adam Barry who was riding home on his BMX

Adam was cycling along Derby Road between Borrowash and Risley, Derbyshire, when he was struck by Gugyel’s Audi A2 at around 9pm.

Gugyel had been on the phone shortly before he went into the back of Adam’s bike, sending him onto a grass verge.

Instead of calling 999 or checking on Adam, Gugyel raced back to his home and researched on the internet the best ways of scrapping wrecked cars.

A passerby alerted emergency services and Adam was rushed to hospital but he died of his injuries.

Hungarian national Gugyel was caught the next day when police found debris from his car at the crash site.

Officers matched the damage to the damaged Audi which was parked outside his home in Heanor, Derbyshire.

He admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Derby Crown Court and was jailed for five years and 11 months on Thursday.

Judge Robert Egbuna also asked for the Home Office to review his leave to remain in the UK when he is released. 

Adam’s father Peter said: ‘It is utterly heart breaking and grief on a whole different level.

‘The feeling of loss is truly overwhelming and consumes you every minute of every day.

‘The yearning to be with him again and see him is so great nothing else really has chance to enter your mind.

Shortly before the fatal crash, Gugyel, who was on furlough from his lorry driving job, sent texts to his friends boasting about being ‘drunk’

Adam was cycling along Derby Road between Borrowash and Risley, Derbyshire, when he was struck by Gugyel’s Audi A2 at around 9pm

‘Every morning we wake up to the horrific reality he has gone. Every evening when it gets dark, we think of him lying there alone on the grass verge.

‘The circumstances of Adam’s death make it even harder to process, and we are in a constant state of disbelief and anger, you think you are starring in a horror movie, but it’s your life.

‘You don’t live, you just exist. We are just killing time.’

Detective Constable Scott Cooper, of Derbyshire Police, said: ‘While Milan Gugyel did not set out to kill anyone that evening, the simple fact is that he should not have been on the roads at all.

‘After breaching lockdown rules, he got behind the wheel while being, in his own words, drunk and then began a phone conversation.

‘This combination of factors left him unable to see what other drivers had, Adam riding his bike.

‘The decisions he had made up to that point were selfish, but the next is beyond contempt.

‘He left Adam on the side of the road to die.

‘In situations like this every second counts and it was 20 minutes before Adam received any medical help, by which point it was too late.

‘Instead of calling an ambulance his only thought was how to get away with the crime.’

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