Lorry driver who killed mum in crash faces jail

ALORRY driver faces a possible jail term after he crashed into a broken-down car on the A38 killing a Plymouth mother.

Jack McIntyre, aged 36, never saw the Audi A4 before hitting it at 55mph, a court heard.

The vehicle was pushed into 54-year-old Briony Elliott and she was fatally injured near the Leigham interchange.

McIntyre, who was driving for Gregory Distribution, was yesterday found guilty of causing her death by careless driving more than two years ago.

A jury at Plymouth Crown Court acquitted him of the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving.

Judge William Mousley released McIntyre on bail until next month for a probation report.

But he warned: “I am sure your barrister has explained to you that you are potentially facing a sentence of immediate imprisonment for this offence.”

McIntyre, who has not driven lorries for the company since, was handed an interim disqualification ahead of a long-term ban.

He showed little reaction as the foreman read the unanimous verdicts after a three-day trial and just over two hours of deliberations.

McIntyre, of Victoria Road, St Budeaux, Plymouth, admitted that he never saw the broken-down car on the eastbound side of the dual carriageway at about 6.35pm on September 11, 2018.

The Audi had both its hazard and rear lights on in the drizzle.

McIntyre barely braked or swerved before hitting the rear of the Audi, pushing it into its driver standing in front. She was thrown over the crash barrier and fatally injured, the court heard.

McIntyre did not stop for another 480 metres – which a prosecution expert said was one of the longest distances he had seen after a major crash.

Prosecutors claimed that McIntyre, who used to drive for National Express, was not paying attention and his view was obscured by water droplets on his windscreen.

Dashcam footage shown to the court proved that his windscreen wipers were not operating.

Collision expert Andrew Fletcher said that he would have expected McIntyre to have seen the broken down vehicle at least six seconds before impact.

That would have given McIntyre, driving the unladen articulated vehicle from the company’s Ernesettle depot to Lichfield in the West Midlands,

time to move around the silver estate car.

McIntyre, who said he had never had an accident before, tried to explain that he had been distracted by someone in the road and that he could not see the “grey car on a grey day” beneath the shadow of a bridge.

He denied that the water on his windscreen would have obscured his view.

McIntyre said he had been licensed to drive HGVs, buses and coaches for a decade and had clocked up 100,000 miles a year “without a scratch”.

He told the jury he had been suspended by Gregory Distribution for three months and had been told he could not drive before his trial.

The hearing was one of many put off because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The victim’s family declined to comment after the verdict. McIntyre was bailed until sentencing on April 16.