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P CRIME
Page 14
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Jury finds A14 truck driver guilty of death by dangerous driving
HGV DRIVER Michael Coombes, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, was last week convicted of causing death by dangerous driving after smashing into a stationary queue of traffic at 55mph.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court heard that 62-year-old Coombes had been driving his HGV artic eastbound along the A14 on 4 May 2007 when he failed to brake and hit the queue of traffic.
Coombes' HGV crashed into a caravan that was being towed by a Mitsubishi 4x4 containing a family of five. Eight-year-old William Elbrow was killed as a result of the impact.
Sergeant Lyndon Pickston, Cambridgeshire Police senior accident investigation officer, says: "We are happy that this conviction sends a clear message of the tragic consequences of driving dangerously.
'Coombes' prolonged inattention to the road resulted
in a young boy needlessly losing his life,he adds.
In court, tachograph evidence was given showing that two other HGVs took 30 seconds to safely slow down and stop behind the stationary queue of traffic.
After the unanimous verdict by the jury, Coombes was released on bail and is due back in court in October for sentencing.