Haulier denies using mobile phone before killing elderly driver
A LORRY driver failed to see a vehicle on the side of the road and ploughed into it, killing the elderly driver, a court heard.
Robert Knight, aged 77, of Cogenhoe, died after his Suzuki Jimny was struck from behind on the westbound A45 at Great Doddington on December 2, 2010.
He had been in his car when William Galbraith’s DAF goods lorry collided with his vehicle, causing him fatal injuries.
Galbraith, aged 48, is accused of causing the father-of-two’s death by dangerous driving, and was allegedly distracted by text messages on his mobile phone, moments before the fatal collision.
Stuart Alford, prosecuting at Northampton Crown Court, said Mr Knight, known as “Big Bob” when landlord of The Nag’s Head, in Wollaston, stopped on the side of the road but Galbraith failed to see him or move out of the slow lane.
He said: “For whatever reason, Galbraith drove into the back of Mr Knight’s car. The prosecution says it was a piece of dangerous driving, whatever the explanation was for him staying in the nearside lane and not moving out of the way.
“The prosecution says there is an obvious explanation for that. At the time he was driving, he was distracted using his mobile phone, sending and receiving text messages.
“Thirty seconds before the collision, a message was sent to his phone. We cannot tell you exactly what he was doing, only he can do that, but the obvious inference is he was engaging in preparing, reading or writing a text message when he should have had his eyes of the road.”
Galbraith, of Stone, Staffordshire denies causing death by dangerous driving and an alternative of causing death by careless driving.
The trial continues.
Email to a friend
Print this page- BREAKING NEWS: Tributes paid to Niamh Curry as brave five-year-old loses battle against cancer
- BREAKING NEWS: Pensioner dies after collision at Northampton shopping centre
- Man tied to tree and beaten on Northampton Racecourse
- BREAKING NEWS: Woman’s body found after ‘suicide’ in Northampton hotel room
- BREAKING NEWS: Seven-year-old boy dies following house fire in Northamptonshire
- Northampton binmen at ‘breaking point’
- Staff strike at Northampton school over academy plans forces closure
- Saints’ stadium plans get support as long as traffic issues solved
- Eastern European pupils helping school standards across Northampton
- Exclusive: PM David Cameron says Northamptonshire Police Commissioner role is “a big job for a big local figure”
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northampton
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
