Melvyn Spree jailed for seven years

Haulage boss jailed over M1 crash

A director of a Kent haulage firm has been jailed for seven years for his company’s role in a road crash in which three men were killed.
The crash on the M1 in Northamptonshire happened on 27 February 2002 when lorry driver Steven Law fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into seven vehicles.

Melvyn Spree works for Keymark Services in Queenborough, which employed Mr Law.

Northampton Crown Court heard how lorry drivers were told to falsify records so they could work longer hours.

Mr Law’s articulated lorry crashed through the central reservation of the M1 between junctions 15 and 16, and collided with seven other vehicles.

The 37-year-old lorry driver, who was part way through an 18-hour stint, was killed along with Neil Owen, 41, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and Benjamin Kwapong, 53, from London.

At a hearing at Leicester Crown Court in October, Spree, 47, from Sheerness, in Kent, admitted the manslaughter and unlawful killing of Mr Owen and Mr Kwapong.

Keymark Services pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the two men.

At the time of the collision, Mr Law’s tachograph actually showed his truck at rest at Keymark’s depot on the Isle of Sheppey.

Hundreds of tachographs used to measure the drivers’ distance and speed were found to have been tampered with.

The company also routinely falsified charts so that drivers could work dangerously long hours without any breaks.

Sentencing Spree on Friday, Judge Charles Wide QC said: "The sheer scale is shocking. Every driver was involved, encouraged by the incentive of a profit-sharing initiative.

"You were the driving force of the fraud and you involved other people in it.

“It is hard to imagine a more serious case of its type.”

Source (edited by me) news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4066331.stm

Vince

Hope this means he looses his ability to run a business again and does not set up under some ficticious name.

Sorry for the loss to the drivers family and the other drivers that may loose their jobs if the company closes

A sad case indeed but good to see another cowboy go down it is such a shame that so many lives were lost in the process.

Ladytrucker679:
A sad case indeed but good to see another cowboy go down it is such a shame that so many lives were lost in the process.

I think the operative phrase their is So Many Lives. Add to that the people it’s touched - and their must be many, and I don’t think the sentance was at all inadequate - I hope he actually goes ahead and serves the full term, rather being let out for “good behaviour” after so long. Maybe they’ll find him a “nice” cellmate to share with as well .

Vince:
At the time of the collision, Mr Law’s tachograph actually showed his truck at rest at Keymark’s depot on the Isle of Sheppey.

Vince

excuse my ignorance but how can that be?

Glad the boss got his dues, but. not wishing to speak ill of the dead or owt, but surely the driver ought to have told the guy to stick his job rather than agreeing to work an 18hr shift!!

paul b:

Vince:
At the time of the collision, Mr Law’s tachograph actually showed his truck at rest at Keymark’s depot on the Isle of Sheppey.

Vince

excuse my ignorance but how can that be?

Presumably he had either pulled the fuse which protects the tachograph, completely disabling the instrument, or he had “put the wire in”.

This is a method of tacho fiddling which involves shorting out one of the tachograph feed wires, which causes the clock to continue running, without any movement being recorded- so the card would show that you were resting while you were driving.

It was common for drivers to do this 15 years ago when work was scarce and we were all terrified of losing our jobs- I have done it myself, and I’m sure I’m not the only one by a long chalk- but I have not heard of anyone doing it for years and years.

Vince

Sadly it still happens Vince.

“The Wire” that was all over the place Vince, youre right. Scannys were the fave for that crack, earthing it on the hand throttle, unless somebody knows an easier one?

I might be wrong, but i thought we were supposed to present a professional image to members of the public who read these forums?

The Biker:
Hope this means he looses his ability to run a business again and does not set up under some ficticious name.

Sorry for the loss to the drivers family and the other drivers that may loose their jobs if the company closes

Sadly he may be better off when he gets out I knew a guy who ripped off countless thousands and got 5 years, the first year was spent in Doncaster nick, he then got moved to an open nick near Bicester, he was allowed out every day from Mon to Fri to drive a mini bus, he spent most of his day with the bus parked outside his house in Towcester while he sat sunning on the patio.
He ran a company from nick and came out atfer a total of 3 years with good behaviour to a personal fortune and a large housing developement that he owned He is now richer than ever