Driver jailed after two due in crash • A Carlisle
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truck driver who drove his tractive unit at speeds of nearly 70mph just before colliding with a car, killing two of its occupants, has been jailed for three years.
Robert Lightfoot pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of two people. Carlisle Crown Court heard the accident happened after Lightfoot had picked up his Leyland Daf unit from a workshop. As he came over the brow of a hill he saw a stationary car 400 yards away. He braked heavily, swerved into the opposite carriageway and collided with an oncoming car.
When vehicle examiners studied the tractor they found one of the brake adjusters had been rendered ineffective. Lightfoot's tachograph showed he had been travelling at 47mph at the point of collision.
Sentencing Lightfoot to three years, Judge Robert Brown said he would have increased the term to four years if the prosecution had proved its allegation that Lightfoot had known about the brake defect.
Lightfoot drove for his family's firm based in Silloth, Cumbria.