Driver who caused M6 crash jailed
A LORRY driver has been jailed for causing a massive crash which left a Birmingham dad paralysed and shut the M6 for five hours.
Andrew Hallbrook ploughed into the back of Martin Brannigan’s car during a traffic jam, shunting it beneath the back of another lorry.
The 56-year-old was paralysed from the shoulders down, while Hallbrook’s HGV also hit another car, sending it into a fifth vehicle.
Hallbrook failed to slow down as he approached the rush-hour tailback, which had been highlighted in warning signs going back one-and-a-half miles, Warwick Crown Court heard.
Adam Western, prosecuting, said Hallbrook was doing 55mph as he approached the queue, and only braked 12 metres before the point of impact at 49mph.
Mr Brannigan, from Sutton Coldfield, spent seven months in hospital.
Hallbrook claimed he was momentarily blinded by the sun when the crash happened around junction two, near Rugby, at 8.30am on March 24. But his version of events was not supported by the other truck driver or the accident investigator.
Hallbrook, 45, of Donnington Court, Dudley, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to causing serious injury to Mr Brannigan by dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for three years.
A campaign to raise £2,000 to support Mr Brannigan is under way. To donate, visit www. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ martinbrannigan