Lorry driver jailed over Hull red light crossing deaths

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
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bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-38222252

A lorry driver who killed a mother and daughter when he drove through a red light has been jailed for 14 months.
Zena Victoria Jackson, 43, and Cidalia Mendes-Jackson, six, died after being hit on a pedestrian crossing on Spring Bank, Hull, in April.
Neville Fletcher, 55, of Southcoates Lane, Hull, admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving.
Hull Crown Court heard he had driven to the middle of the road to perform a sharp left turn by traffic lights.

The lights changed to red as the lorry approached, with the mother and daughter starting to cross the road.

Patrick Palmer, prosecuting, said the pair had waited at the crossing for a second full sequence of lights as if the mother was showing her daughter how to cross safely. Fletcher’s attention was caught up in negotiating other vehicles on the busy road and checking side mirrors as he got his vehicle into position to turn, the court heard. Dashcam footage from the lorry showed Fletcher failing to stop with the vehicle travelling at about 1.9mph (3km/h) when he hit the pair. Malcolm Galloway, defending, said Fletcher had worked for 35 years in driving jobs and had never had an accident before.

He said the accident would live with Fletcher forever and “if he could possibly turn back the clock, he would”. Ms Jackson’s daughter Sadie Jackson wrote a victim personal statement describing how “dreadfully affected” the family was by the loss of Ms Jackson and Cidalia and how loved they were. Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC accepted Fletcher was remorseful, but said: “You made an appalling mistake with catastrophic consequences.”

Shows just how bad its getting now. Basically the driver was trying to move out to turn left and spending so much time dealing with the ■■■■■■■■■ around him he didn’t get enough time to actually be able to look where he was going. When those lycra tossers in London are campaigning for more mirrors on trucks they seem to forget that at some point you actually need to look in the direction the truck is going as this accident proves.

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55 year old, first accident in 35 years of driving trucks , and devastated by what he has done, and that poor woman and her little girl.
That could have been any one of our wives and little lass.

I don’t know anything about this driver guy, but on the face of it he does not sound like your usual hooligan in a truck seat, just negotiating a tight turn, and losing sight of the 2 pedestrians.
Sounds like a horrible tragic accident, where it could have happened to any of us.

I’ve got very mixed feelings about the jail sentence tbh, is it going to do him any good in terms of ‘learning his lesson’ , an accident by it’s very nature is not intentional.

He was not like that other prick who wiped out a family, being more concerned about losing his licence after the short time he had it, he has showed what appears to be genuine remorse.

What do the rest of you reckon?

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i looked at this cos i 1st thought was we were going to see some prozzies squashed,however…the dashcam seems to have claimed another victim.(the driver)…■■■■ happens,but you might think misses myopic would look to see the traffic has stopped before blindly gaping at the green man then setting off…a year for a unintentional genuine mistake seems a tad harsh,but its makde the media,so hey ho unlucky for the truckie…ad once the holy brigade from here start waffling,then wait till its your turn to be in the dock,and see how different a perspective then…1.9mph is hardly warp factor 9.

and…

i dont want anybody moanng about conor for posting this…i actually agreed with a post he made last week,so that makes him my best pal now,and almost a blood brother…( almost)… :smiley:

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I think he’s being made an example of. Yes its a tragic event but does it really warrant jail time? Its not like he ran them at 50mph.

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Tragic waste of life, there are no winners here, I for one am thinking “there by the grace of God…”

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As already said he is being made an example of,14 months in jail is not a sentence for killing 2 people a lad I know got more than that for being involved in football violence and that’s fighting amongst people who do so by choice.

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Hull Daily Mail version

Horrific dashcam footage showed the moment a mum and daughter were killed by a lorry in Spring Bank.

Lorry driver Neville Fletcher drove through a red light as Zena Jackson, 43, and her six-year-old daughter Cidalia as they used a pedestrian crossing near Stanley Street.

He has now been jailed for 14 months and banned from driving for five years and seven months.

The crash was captured on a dashcam inside Fletcher’s lorry, as well as on CCTV footage from the street.

Relatives of Miss Jackson and Cidalia left the courtroom as the CCTV was shown during Fletcher’s sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court.

Fletcher, 55, of Southcoates Lane, east Hull, admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving when he appeared at Hull Magistrates Court last month.

Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said: "No sentence I impose can make up for the colossal sense of loss the family has suffered.

"A few minutes ago I watched the DVD of the tragic and catastrophic events.

“The lives of the family of Zena and Cidalia have been irreparably shattered, particularly the five-year-old boy who no longer has his mother.”

Hull Crown Court today heard the traffic lights were on red when Zena Jackson and Cidalia were using a crossing point close to Stanley Street, the court heard.

They were halfway across when the lorry struck them.

Fletcher claimed the lights were on green when he started the manoeuvre and must have changed part way through.

He said he ‘felt something’ and stopped as soon as he could.

Fletcher’s barrister, Malcolm Galloway, said if his client “could turn the clock back, he would” and added that he makes a heartfelt apology to the family of Miss Jackson and her daughter.

Mr Galloway said: "He is a simple, quiet man whose only hobby is supporting his local football team.

"He has been a professional driver all his life and never had an accident before.

“He still doesn’t understand how he missed the red light.”

He said the accident had devastated Fletcher.

“Everyone is distraught by this accident, particularly with a six-year-old involved,” he said.

"He is a changed man now. The remorse and guilt will live with him all his life. He is a good man who is devastated.

“He has a granddaughter himself and every time he he picks her up he thinks about what he has done.”

Judge Richardson said he had an “extremely difficult task and painful duty to perform” when sentencing Fletcher.

Before retiring briefly to consider the sentence, the judge told Fletcher he would be going to prison and sent him to the cells.
When he returned, Judge Richardson addressed Fletcher and said: "You plainly failed to take into account the red lights and you went through the red lights and executed a left turn, thereby running over the two deceased - first with the front wheels and then the rear wheels.

"This is not a case of an avoidable distraction. You were not on the telephone, you were not tired and you weren’t driving fast.

“You were inattentive to an important part of driving. There is no place for inattentive driving, particularly when driving a vehicle weighing many tonnes.”

The judge said Fletcher’s early guilty plea and “genuine remorse” were “potent mitigating factors”.

After reading letters from Fletcher’s family and friends, Judge Richardson said Fletcher is a “plainly a decent man”.

Speaking to the Mail in May, Zena Jackson’s daughter Sadie described her as a “great mother”.

“She had a brilliant sense of humour and used to laugh and joke all the time,” she said. "She was just funny.

"When you did something bad, she was a real mum, but when you were good, she was like a friend. She loved being a mum, but she was like a kid herself sometimes. I’m going to really miss her.

“Cidalia had a great imagination and we only learnt after she died that she had won a writing competition. The story was about a mermaid.”

hulldailymail.co.uk/spring-b … story.html

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Very sad for all involved.

What worries me is when people cross the road even on a green man without looking.
If i’m using a crossing, I keep looking whilst I cross.

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I find myself agreeing with everything robroy wrote. Such a tragic accident. I don’t think jail time was justified, it wasn’t a dangerous or intentional event leading to a mistake. It was just one of those things. We’ve all turned around when manoeuvring and caught sight of something just in the nick of time, be it a car, pedestrian, bike or inanimate object. This time this guy wasn’t so fortunate, and the lady and her child were tragically taken. The guy has to live with his mistake forever, and showed genuine remorse. A stint at her majesties pleasure isn’t doing anyone good, and it certainly won’t bring them back. Put this down as another reason why people don’t want to do the job

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Conor:
Shows just how bad its getting now. Basically the driver was trying to move out to turn left and spending so much time dealing with the [zb] around him he didn’t get enough time to actually be able to look where he was going. When those lycra tossers in London are campaigning for more mirrors on trucks they seem to forget that at some point you actually need to look in the direction the truck is going as this accident proves.

Tragic situation for all concerned.The blame arguably being more with the road planners putting crossings in ridiculous positions such as this where it’s predictable that observation on the approach or exit of the junction or roundabouts etc conflict with observation of the crossing.While the undertaking cyclist hazard issue just adds to that problem massively.

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I can only echo what others have said, it’s a tragic accident and sad loss of life, but jailing a driver the judge described as “plainly a decent man” for 14 months will achieve nothing.

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The Hull Daily Mail account seems to be quite misleading, the way they’re trying to portray it is that he was trying to jump the light. The dashcam footage from the truck was shown on Look North. The lorry was crawling forward, the lights changed whilst the lorry was moving over to the right after the lorry had already slowed down to walking speed and at the point the lights changed the two people were stood at the side waiting to cross. Hard to judge the distance but I would have said maybe 15-20ft at the point where the dashcam footage was stopped before they stepped out.

I can only assume that because of the slow speed the lorry was doing and that it had slowed down from a faster speed that the woman was expecting the lorry to stop it was going that slowly, so just walked out into the road because the green man was lit and paid the price for assuming that was going to happen.

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cant agree with jail sentence either

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A terrible tragedy for all including the driver. No winners here.

But it has to be said why didn’t the woman with the child move smartly back to the kerb - the truck was moving at approx half walking speed.

I know it’s easy for me sitting at my desk to ask the question but even so.

Where on the truck was the point of impact, front or side?

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tachograph:
I can only echo what others have said, it’s a tragic accident and sad loss of life, but jailing a driver the judge described as “plainly a decent man” for 14 months will achieve nothing.

+1 sometimes the law seems to step over the line to sentencing purely for vengeful reasons

Strange comment by the judge regarding the lack of phone use. Odd message

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James the cat:

tachograph:
I can only echo what others have said, it’s a tragic accident and sad loss of life, but jailing a driver the judge described as “plainly a decent man” for 14 months will achieve nothing.

+1 sometimes the law seems to step over the line to sentencing purely for vengeful reasons

Strange comment by the judge regarding the lack of phone use. Odd message

the law stepped over the line because it made good news for the media vultures and he wouldnt want to stick his neck out for them to chop it off with." JUDGE LETS JUGGERNAUT DOUBLE MURDERER AWAY SCOT FREE" ETC…the gormless ■■■■■ should have kept her eyes open to check for traffic whst crossing the road…the driver made a whoopsie and no doubt was fully i control of his truck,just missed seeing them,nobodys perfect,but its good media fodder,and the judge makes sure his ■■■ is covered for any backlash…no point in the sentence,other than asscovering on the crowns behalf. 2 people to blame hereand 1 crucified.
why is everyone killed always the life and soul with a great future,cruelly snuffed out etc…obviously if your a miserable billy no mates crabbit moaning grumpy git,you will never be killed in an accident.

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Conor:
I can only assume that because of the slow speed the lorry was doing and that it had slowed down from a faster speed that the woman was expecting the lorry to stop it was going that slowly, so just walked out into the road because the green man was lit and paid the price for assuming that was going to happen.

You’d have thought the mum would of seen the lorry slowly encroaching onto the crossing out of the corner of her eye but i suppose she was talking or looking at her daughter, all very sad with no winners .

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bald bloke:

Conor:
I can only assume that because of the slow speed the lorry was doing and that it had slowed down from a faster speed that the woman was expecting the lorry to stop it was going that slowly, so just walked out into the road because the green man was lit and paid the price for assuming that was going to happen.

You’d have thought the mum would of seen the lorry slowly encroaching onto the crossing out of the corner of her eye but i suppose she was talking or looking at her daughter, all very sad with no winners .

you would think that of anyone with a reasonable awareness of being able to cross a street…then you see this,and wonder if there distant relations.
this is a good example why we have h&s rules that are an insult to your intelligence…

idiot woman.jpg
idiot woman.jpg634×814 73.6 KB

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Very sad all round. I used to work for P&H and I lost count of the number of times I almost ended up stranded on crossings etc.

Cyclists come out of nowhere, cars drivers change their minds at junctions and change indicators from left to right, people walk out without looking, dogs all of a sudden come from nowhere, town centre areas are just a nightmare for delivery drivers.

I agree with others on here. Prison will not reform this man as he has no reforming to do. His punishment will be closing his eyes most nights and reliving events in his mind.

And now he will have a prison cell for 7 months to sleep in with no wife/partner or family there to console him. The sentence should have been a longer term but suspended in my view.

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Sounds like he was badly advised by the wiggies to plead guilty.