Drivers 'must stop mobile use'

The families of two Staffordshire school friends killed in a horror smash have welcomed the sentence handed to a lorry driver who has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.

And the close relatives of 13-year-old Rebecca Casterton and Lauren Brooks, 12, appealed for motorists not to use mobile telephones while driving, following their deaths.

A judge at Stafford Crown Court said lorry driver Robert Murray was distracted by his mobile phone although he was not using it at the time of the accident on the A38 near Lichfield.

Rebecca, of Barton under Needwood and Lauren, of Burton, died when Lauren's mother's Renault Clio was clipped by Murray's lorry and sent over the central reservation at Clay Mills.

In a joint statement from the families, Rebecca and Lauren were described as "wonderful daughters".

"Rebecca and Lauren were bubbly, bright, full of life, loved by everyone who knew them and a credit to their families," they said.

Responsible

"It has been a very difficult year and the pain of losing them in such tragic circumstances is still with us all every day. We were extremely impressed with the police investigation and pleased that the man responsible for their deaths has been found guilty and that he has received a prison sentence."

Murray, aged 51, of Summer Crescent, Wrockwardine Wood, Telford, was found guilty in November of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a five-day trial at Stafford.

The trial was told he was using a mobile shortly before the crash in January last year, which killed the best friends, pupils at John Taylor High School in Barton-under-Needwood.

The families' statement went on to say the tragedy was avoidable. "A few seconds of distraction whilst in control of a vehicle caused this nightmare. Our appeal is for people to think long and hard of the potential life changing consequences of their actions and never use their telephones while driving."