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"Five years? Not long enough"
Page 5
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A truck driver who fell asleep at the wheel and killed a man within months of being involved In three other crashes has been Jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Ian Lawrence pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at Swindon Crown Court following the crash on the A350 near Warminster, Wiltshire.
The court heard that Lawrence's truck ploughed into a stationary road maintenance vehicle, crushing driver Nicholas Nall between the truck and trailer. The prosecution revealed that Lawrence, a 60-year-old driver from Exeter working for Bibby Distribution, had been involved in a catalogue of similar crashes, including a collision with a stationary HCV on the 1141, in January 2001, and running into the back of another truck six months later on the A38 in Devon.
A report by an Independent expert showed Lawrence had failed to brake or take any avoiding action Immediately prior to the collision on the A350. Witnesses saw him on several owe sions wandering over the central white line and clipping the verge. The prosecution alleged all the evidence pointed to Lawrence falling asleep at the wheel.
Jailing Lawrence and banning him from driving for five years, Judge John hicNaught said: "What you did was a terrible thing, to drive when you were unfit because you were tired."
however, Lawrence will be released after serving half his sentence, the Judge said, which angers road safety campaign group Brake. A spokesman says: "It is not long enough—he's killed somebody at the wheel and he's had similar accidents beforehand. It's nothing compared to a sentence for manslaughter or murder, which is effectively what he's committed."