Trucker locked up for crash that killed dad
LORRY DRIVER SENT CAR OUT OF CONTROL WHEN HE SWERVED INTO INSIDE LANE
A TRUCKER who caused an horrific motorway pile-up which left a man dead and two other people seriously injured has been jailed.
Adrian Penniston, 68, was driving his 40-tonne articulated lorry on the M62 near Milnrow, Rochdale, in the morning rush hour when he ‘forgot’ about a Mercedes car to his left in the inside lane.
Without warning or indicating, Penniston suddenly swerved in from the middle lane causing his Iveco truck to clip the Mercedes – sending it spinning across all three lanes of the crowded eastbound carriageway.
The car hit the central reservation before it flipped over onto the opposite carriageway and into the path of oncoming traffic – hitting another car before ploughing into two HGVs.
The Mercedes driver, dad-of-one Darren Walmsley, 51, from Milnrow, suffered multiple fatal injuries in the impact and died at the scene. An unnamed couple in the other car suffered multiple fractures in the tragedy, which occurred at 9.30am on July 4 last year.
Penniston, from North Walsham, near Cromer, Norfolk – who has a clean driving record – later claimed he had swerved into the slow lane as other traffic was undertaking him.
But at Minshull Street Crown Court Judge Stuart Driver QC condemned his driving as he jailed him for six months and banned him from driving for two years and three months.
The judge told Penniston: “You have a good driving record but a driver of a vehicle as large as yours on a motorway which is crowded means you have a clear and profound duty to avoid the risk of any collision.
“Darren Walmsley was a 51-yearold man who was loved by family and friends and respected in his community. The consequences of his death have been enormous. The value of his life cannot be measured and no sentence imposed by this court could ever seem appropriate.”
Penniston admitted causing death by careless driving. Tom Gent, defending, said: “He has always been extremely sorry for his part and is genuinely devastated by the consequences. The consequences haunt him every day and will continue to do so forever.
“When he saw what had happened he broke down and went into shock. He wasn’t overly tired and was concentrating on the road he was driving.”
At the time of Mr Walmsley’s death his family paid tribute, saying: “Darren was a quiet, shy and unassuming man who was happiest in the company of his family and friends.
“He was a loving and devoted husband to his wife of 25 years, Noreen, and a caring and proud father to his beloved daughter Melanie.”