Driver is facing jail over bike deaths

A lorry driver has been warned he faces jail after his dangerous driving led to the deaths of two Staffordshire motorcyclists.

Tipper truck driver Russell Wallace pulled out in front of a group of bikers who were heading for a festival in Skegness when the accident happened in April last year. Motorcyclist Colin Millard hit the lorry and his friend Alan Johnson swerved and hit a lamp post.

Both men died at the scene.

A jury at Stafford Crown Court ruled that Wallace’s manoeuvre, on the main Rugeley to Armitage Road, was dangerous.

Wallace, aged 61, of Post Office Lane, Rugeley, was yesterday convicted of two charges of causing death by dangerous driving, offences which he had denied.

Judge Simon Tonking remanded him on bail for reports, but warned him: “Those who are convicted of causing death by dangerous driving face a custodial sentence.” The jury was told that Wallace pulled out from the old Rugeley Power Station on to the main road without stopping on April 20 last year and failed to see the bikers.

Mr Darron Whitehead, prosecuting, said Wallace’s driving fell far below that of a competent and prudent driver.

“Despite having at least 250 to 400 yards of visibility along the road to his right, he failed to see Mr Millard and Mr Johnson riding separate motorcycles,” he said.

Mr Millard, who was 49 and from Marchbanks, Rugeley, died from multiple injuries at the scene.

Mr Johnson, aged 47, and from Frank Gee Close, Rugeley, managed to miss the lorry but went around the back of it and collided with a kerb, sending him onto a grass verge and into a lamp post. He died at the scene from chest injuries.

Wallace maintained the accident was the fault of the bikers through speeding, but his case was rejected by an 11-1 majority of the jury.