Trucker jailed after man killed in Cannock Bypass smash

A veteran trucker who killed a van driver in an horrific head-on smash has been jailed for four years.

Pensioner Dennis Martin was on the phone and speeding flat out when his articulated lorry hit David Roberts's van.

The 43-year-old father was killed instantly in the accident, which took place on the Cannock Bypass, Stafford Crown Court heard. Martin, who had also fiddled his tachometer to 'lose' some of his driving hours, told police after the accident he thought he was on a dual carriageway.

But the Cannock Bypass, where the accident happened in the early hours of December 7 last year, was clearly road marked for two-way traffic, Mr Nick Burn, prosecuting, told the court.

Martin, aged 65, from Kirkcaldy in Scotland admitted causing Mr Roberts's death by dangerous driving.

Along with the jail sentence, the defendant was banned from driving for eight years. Judge John Maxwell told Martin he had caused "devastation" to Mr Roberts's family and there were a number of aggravating features of the crime.

"You had been driving for a long time and you had falsified your tachometer. You were on the phone at the time of the accident and you had been for 20 minutes.

"I acknowledge this was a hands-free phone, but even that creates a distraction. The combination of being tired and distracted led to this accident.

"You were travelling at an excessive speed, going as fast as the lorry would go."

Mr Burn said the speed limit for a lorry on the bypass was 40mph, but Martin was travelling at 56mph. "That's the maximum speed that vehicle would be capable of because of a speed limiting device," he said.

Mr Burn told the court Martin had set off from Scotland the evening before, but had only inserted his tachograph when he got to a service station in Cumbria. A woman friend was with him in the cab at the time.

Mr Philip Bradley, defending, said Martin had been using a lawful mobile phone.

Martin had been driving for 45 years the accident and intends never to drive again, the court heard.