Drunk driver who killed ski champ is jailed Published on Wednesday 6 June 2012 12:55 A STUDENT who mowed down and killed a champion Scots skier in the US as he drove home drunk from a party has been jailed for three years. Patrick Compton, 22, lost control of his 4x4 and smashed into fellow student Craig Macfie, as Mr Macfie, 24, cycled back to his student accommodation in Eugene, Oregon. Mr Macfie, from Morningside, Edinburgh, who had won a string of skiing titles, died in hospital the following day. Lane County Circuit Court in Oregon heard that Mr Macfie was months away from graduating and had lined up a dream job in London. Mr Macfie was also under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, and tested positive for marijuana. The court heard a letter from Macfie's parents, Rosie and Andy, who said they'd felt "incomplete, numb, and empty" since a local hospital chaplain called to tell them their eldest child was dying. The parents said in the letter they arrived hours later to find "15 of his American friends" watching vigil overnight before he died of his injuries. The couple expressed gratitude to 80 people who attended a local memorial service and installed a "ghost bike" at the crash scene in memory of his death. They said one of the hardest moments was three weeks after his death, when he received a job offer from the company he'd hoped to work for in London. His mother Rosie had said how much she was going to miss him in his final term of university, to which her son replied: "Don't worry, Mum, I'll be back in December, and then we can spend as much time together as you wish." The couple wrote of the impact of his "cruel" death on their other children, his brothers Alastair and Euan, and sister Catriona. He said they had stopped sending Christmas and birthday cards "because writing five names instead of six is too difficult." The court heard on the night of the crash Compton had drunk three glasses of wine and two vodka-and-cranberry juices. Prosecutor Jo-Ann Miller said a police accident investigator found Compton was speeding in a 20-mph zone at the time of the accident, which happeend at 2.26am on November 18 last year. He struck Mr Macfie's Raleigh bicycle from behind as the other student rode in a marked bicycle lane, leading Mr Macfire's head to "snap backward" and strike the bonnet of the Toyota, causing a fatal brain injury. Mr Macfie wasn't wearing a helmet and lacked the reflectors and lights that required for cycling at night under state law. Compton, who has no previous convictions, had a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit and stayed with Mr Macfie until paramedics arrived. Police requested he perform a sobriety test, which measures such factors as balance and coordination, and he failed it. The American anthropology student pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, reduced from second-degree manslaughter, as well as driving under the influence of alcohol. Compton stood up and told the court before sentencing: "I will keep his life and memory in my mind and on my heart. I always will attempt to live a life of honour for his life and for myself. Judge Ilisa Rooke-Ley banned Comtpon from driving for life as well as jailing him for three years. Mr Macfie was a business administration and sports marketing major, and was just a month away from graduating when he died. He competed for three years on the British Alpine Ski Team, and had won a string of skiing titles and was part of the GB team at the University Winter Games two years ago. Since moving to Oregon to study, he also skied with the University's Alpine Racing Team, where friends described him as an "olympic level athlete."