Families want review
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by Karen Miles • The family of a man killed by a truck with a tired driver is pressing the Crown Prosecution Service to review its decision not to prosecute his employer.
Charles Mitchell, 20. was killed last year on the Al near Newark as he rode his moped. Now his parents could seek a judicial review challenging the CPS's decision not to bring manslaughter charges against the Belgian owner of the vehicle, Roberts Express.
Driver Eddy de Meersman is serving three years in jail in what is believed to be the first UK case where hours offences led to a conviction for causing death by dangerous driving.
During the hearing the court heard that de Meersman had told his employer that he wanted to stop for a break but his employer had told him to carry on. De Meersman, who had not taken the proper breaks in the 27 hours preceding the accident, had pleaded not guilty.
7 The CPS has also been asked to think again by the families of the victims of the Sowerby Bridge disaster in which a Fewston Transport truck killed six people when its brakes failed. That case could go to the European Court of Human Rights.
Brake, the campaign for safe road haulage, is backing the families. "By backing both cases we are pushing the CPS to bring manslaughter charges on both a drivers hours and a mechanical failure case," says director Mary Will "The manslaughter charge is there for the CPS to use if it wishes."