An exotic dancer who killed a cyclist while drunk-driving has been jailed for ten and a half years after laughing at a comment that she had “taken out a tree-hugger, a bicyclist, a Frenchman, and a [slur for homosexual], all in one shot”.

An Arizona court convicted Melissa Arrington, 27, of negligent homicide and aggravated driving under the influence after the death of Paul L'Ecuyer in 2006. Despite his French surname, Mr L'Ecuyer was born in Arizona and was described in his obituary as “a humanitarian, writer, and social services provider”.

Arrington was banned from driving after a previous drunk-driving conviction when she hit Mr L'Ecuyer so hard that he landed in the bed of her Chevy Silverado pick-up truck.

The minimum sentence was four years, but the judge imposed a jail term of ten years and six months after he heard a recording of a telephone call that Arrington had made to a friend while in jail. The friend told Arrington that an acquaintance said that she should get “a f****** medal and a parade”. Arrington could be heard laughing and when her friend said he knew it was a terrible thing to say, she responded: “No, it's not.”

The judge, Michael Cruikshank, described the exchange as “breathtaking in its inhumanity”.

Ms L'Ecuyer was in a cycle lane when Arrington — who had recently attended a Mothers Against Drunk Driving meeting — swerved off the road, hit him, and kept going for 250 metres. She said she had been momentarily distracted while reaching for hand cleanser. She had double the legal limit of alcohol in her blood.

Michael Rosenbluth, for Arrington, said that she had never been “cold, callous or flippant” about Mr L'Ecuyer's death, and that the call did not represent her true feelings.

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?