A LORRY driver who caused the death of a father-of-eleven in an A46 horror crash has been jailed for one year.
Rajesh Patel has been convicted of causing the death of Derby father Nigel Blount by driving his Mercedes artic dangerously on the A46 at Coventry in March last year.
The 54-year-old, of Hartopp in Sutton Coldfield, gave trucker Nigel Blount no chance to avoid a collision after ploughing into the back of a broken-down wagon and, despite denying the charge, was found guilty at Warwick Crown Court and sentenced to jail time.
He was also banned from driving for two-and-a-half years.
Prosecutor Walter Bealby told the jury that a Volvo truck carrying a full load of chopped iron and steel had broken down on the A46 Eastern by-pass on the outskirts of Coventry.
Driver Andrew Jones pulled over as far as he could but, with no hard shoulder, the offside of the truck was jutting out into the nearside lane of the dual carriageway.
As he waited for assistance, with hazard warning lights on and clearly visible on a straight stretch of road, he was thrown out of the cab when Patel’s Mercedes truck crashed into the back of him.
The lorry being driven by 62-year-old Mr Blount then crashed into the back of the Mercedes – fracturing his ribs and vertebrae.
And despite being rushed to hospital, he died five weeks later from an infection caused in part to the serious spinal trauma injuries he sustained in the crash.
Mr Bealby said: “The defendant failed completely to see the parked Volvo, and simply ploughed into it.
“Mr Blount had no chance to stop. The Mercedes came to an almost instantaneous stop in front of him.”
The court heard how a parademic had asked Patel whether he was on medication – to which he answered he had been putting eye drops in.
But in his evidence Patel said that was a reference to medication in general, not that he was putting them in at the time of the crash.
Defending Patel, barrister David Bright said: “This man did not set out that day to commit a crime.
“It is possible to look at this as involving only a momentary lapse of concentration, a serious one, but it is not a case where he has been driving dangerously for a long period.”
He argued for Patel to be handed a suspended sentence, but this was rejected by Judge Stephen Eyre QC, who told Patel: “I cannot escape the fact that I have to sentence you for dangerous driving in a heavy goods vehicle, at speed on a busy road, in circumstances where you driving caused a death.”
Sentencing, Judge Eyre said: “Nigel Blount was a good and decent man.
“He had shown love and care to others by fostering over a period of 20 years and adopting five of those who had been in his care.
“He has left a real legacy of achievement, and will be remembered by many with love and gratitude.
“You had to respond to a dangerous situation you had not created, but other drivers kept their eyes open and were able to avoid the broken-down lorry.
“It was clear from the CCTV dashcam and from the expert evidence that you failed even to begin to take evasive action until the very last moment.
“It was that failure which led to Mr Blount’s death.”
