Prison for lorry driver in double-death crash after U-turn

Brian Coleman, of Calne, Wiltshire, was convicted of causing the deaths by dangerous driving of Gareth Jones and Philip Wicks when he took the short cut across a major trunk road. The 59-year-old former AA man claimed he had seen their van coming but thought he had time to complete the manoeuvre, not realising they were speeding.

Coleman pulled into a lay-by at Pretty Chimneys, between Chippenham and the M4, at about 7am on July 29 last year, so his work colleagues could collect some recycling material during his round for recycling firm Hills.

Coleman made the decision to complete a U-turn though a gap in the central reservation to collect recycling from properties on the other side of the road – a manoeuvre that was permitted on the road and he had completed in the past without difficulty.

But a Ford Transit van, driven by Mr Jones, 25, smashed into the lorry at about 70mph, leaving the driver and Mr Wicks, his 30-year-old boss, with fatal head injuries.

Sentencing Coleman at Swindon Crown Court, Judge Douglas Field said Coleman had never been in any trouble in the past and was heading towards retirement with an unblemished driving record of over 30 years. He was given two three-year sentences to run concurrently and a driving ban of three years.