Trucker was betting on greyhound race by phone just before 56mph death crash
A LORRY driver has been jailed after he used his mobile phone to place bets on gambling apps moments before a crash which killed a father in front of his children.
Dean Moffat, 48, bet £20 on a greyhound race less than two minutes before he hit 60-year-old Ric Mboma.
Mr Mboma, a father-of-four, was ‘unavoidably’ at the side of a dual-carriageway changing a faulty tyre.
Army veteran Moffat had ‘almost continually used his iPhone’ during a six-hour journey, Winchester Crown Court heard. He had repeatedly veered on to rumble strips at the side of the road. Dashcam footage revealed he could have seen Mr Mboma’s hazard lights 36 seconds before the 56mph crash but he took no evasive action.
Mr Mboma, his daughter Witley. 19, and son Heaven, 15, had pulled over on the A34 between Newbury and Winchester in November 2019. Other vehicles had managed to avoid them. ‘Loving and caring husing. band’ Mr Mboma died at the scene. Witley and Heaven both suffered lasting physical and mental injuries.
Judge Jane Miller jailed Moffat – a Royal Logistics Corps Sergeant with 22 years’ service – for seven years.
Prosecutor Catherine Donnelly said while at the wheel, he had used Facebook 12 times, read 14 emails and five WhatsApp messages, took two calls and made another.
He also placed four bets, the last two minutes before crashHe deleted his betting apps 14 minutes after the crash.
Judge Miller QC said: ‘The dashcam footage shows exactly what happened. This was a prolonged, persistent and deliberate case of bad driving, using a phone is a gross and avoidable distraction.’
Witley, now 20, suffered a broken arm. Her brother’s leg was broken and he has lasting joint pain and had to be treated for psychosis.
Witley, who had to give up university due to the trauma, said in a victim impact statement: ‘The worst injury is the internal pain that will never go away. I often think about taking my own life so I can see my dad again.’