7 Mar 2008

Four years in jail for lorry driver who dozed off on motorway and killed bridegroom-to-be

Last updated at 14:00pm on 7th March 2008

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A trucker who killed a bridegroom-to-be in a motorway pile-up after falling asleep at the wheel was starting four and a half years in jail today.

David Walsh, 44, decided to make his journey home despite feeling drowsy after making deliveries for up to six hours.

He nodded off in his 40-tonne articulated lorry whilst travelling in the evening rush hour on the M61 near Little Hulton, Greater Manchester.

The HGV smashed through traffic cones and signs on the hard shoulder of the motorway before veering at 53mph across three lanes of the carriageway and ploughing through the central reservation.

The lorry then overturned onto the opposite carriageway, smashing into four vehicles, including a van driven by William Colloff and a Vauxhall Vectra driven by Roger Bailey.

Mr Colloff, 39, a father-of-one who ran his own financial advice business in Todmorden, Yorkshire, was travelling to see fiancée Lisa Dootson, taking along some things for the house they had just bought in Westhoughton.

He bore the brunt of the impact and died of multiple injuries at the scene.

Mr Bailey, 55, overcame serious injuries during a six-week fight for life but will never recover fully.

Two other drivers escaped unhurt although one was treated for deep shock.

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Walsh had got up at 6am to go to work on September 18, 2006, making deliveries for Aldi supermarket across the North-West - a job he had started just a day earlier.

His lorry was not ready until six hours later so he did not set off until lunchtime. He made deliveries to stores at Preston and Kendal then - despite being drowsy - he decided to make the journey back his depot in Middleton at 6.30pm.

As the M61 swung to the right just past Little Hulton towards Manchester Walsh's lorry continued straight ahead onto the hard shoulder, smashing through two sets of traffic cones and "keep right" warning signs prior to the start of roadworks.

He then appeared to wake up as he hit the metal crash barrier at the side of the hard shoulder but it was too late.

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As he tried to regain control of the wheel, the lorry slewed across the motorway and crashed through the central reservation and overturned on the Preston-bound carriageway.

At Bolton Crown Court, Walsh, of Dukinfield, was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.

He was also banned from driving for four years.

Passing sentence, Judge Stephen Everett said: "He must realise it's highly unlikely that he will ever drive a HGV again.

He told Walsh: "The crash was caused because you fell asleep. Whether you'd driven knowing you were tired I don't know, but you must have realised that you were becoming sleepy.

"You were close to home, 20 minutes away and even though you were tired, you took a risk ... There were these devastating consequences.

"No sentence that I impose can bring back Mr Colloff or in any way compensate for the loss of his life."

Walsh later told police he could not remember anything about the journey for around the last eight miles, but said he had probably turned on his cruise control as he drove onto the motorway.

He added: "The next thing I remember is an ambulanceman or a policeman in a high-visibility jacket attempting to put a neck brace on me."

Walsh, a lorry driver for 22 years, was kept in Hope Hospital overnight with cuts and bruises and a broken finger.

The court heard he was looking after his three children after his wife died of liver failure in 2002.

Outside court Ms Dootson, 39, a hygiene technician and mother-of-three, said of her fiancé: "We met through mutual friends at a 30th birthday party. He was a kind, caring, loving man. He doted on his son and he said he wanted to retire when he was a millionaire.

"It's changed the way I think. It's live for today now and I don't make plans for the future. We should have been going away for his 40th."

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