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Mobile phone death driver jailed

A lorry driver who was using his mobile phone just before he smashed into a stationary car and killed a 23-year-old woman has been jailed for four years.

John Payne, 31, from Chesham, Bucks, hit Trinity Taylor's car as it queued in traffic on the M3 near Basingstoke.

Miss Taylor, from Aldershot, Hampshire, was pronounced dead at the scene, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Payne, who had admitted causing death by dangerous driving, was also banned from driving for seven years.

Six other vehicles were severely damaged in the accident in which Ms Taylor, who looked after her mother full-time, suffered massive chest and head injuries.

In the collision, the lorry rolled over the top of her Peugeot 106.

Payne was arrested at the scene and told police in interview that he did not know why he was punching the keypad of the phone because he did not intend to make a call.

Andy Houston, prosecuting, said that in the minutes before the crash Payne had told his driver's mate, William Fowell, that he wanted to find out how to use the phone, which was in a cradle, and he started punching numbers on the keypad.

In mitigation, Ian Lawrie said Payne was suffering depression and anxiety in the aftermath of the crash, from which he escaped uninjured.

Sentencing Payne, the Recorder of Winchester Judge Michael Brodrick, said: "Anyone wanting an illustration of using mobile phones in a vehicle only has to look at the facts of this case.

"You struck a vehicle driving a 7.5 ton lorry. It ran over the back of it and it was crushed and became half its length and unrecognisable.

"This was because your attention was distracted. You did not see the signs ahead. You did not see the queues ahead."

Triple fatal lorry driver jailed

Mrs Gitsham and her two young children died in the crash

A lorry driver who ploughed into a car killing a mother and her two children has been jailed for three years.

Stacey Gitsham, 26, died with her son Joshua, two, and 11-week-old Georgia, on the A1 in Cambs in December 2005.

James Wingfield, 36, from Coventry, admitted three counts of causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared at Peterborough Crown Court.

The court heard Mrs Gitsham, from St Neots, had stopped because of roadworks and Wingfield was not paying attention.

The court heard that Wingfield was not speeding at the time of the accident on 8 December, but that the crash was the result of a "prolonged period of inattention" by Wingfield.

Four other vehicles were involved in the crash

Judge Nicholas Coleman said Wingfield would serve half his sentence before being eligible for parole and would be disqualified from driving for at least three years.

After the case, Mrs Gitsham's husband Andrew said: "No words can convey how this tragedy has affected my life and the lives of our family and friends.

"We were just an ordinary family doing ordinary things, don't ever think it couldn't happen to you.

"These are the things you read about in the paper, but we are not reading it, we are living it."

The BMW car the family was travelling in burst into flames after becoming trapped underneath the articulated lorry.

Five vehicles were involved in the crash in which several other people were left with minor injuries.