Two guilty over fatal tipper truck crash in Bath
The truck careered down a hill and hit pedestrians and parked cars following a "catastrophic" brake failure.
Thursday 22 December 2016 17:55, UK
A haulage boss and a mechanic have been convicted of manslaughter after a 32-tonne truck with faulty brakes killed four people.
Matthew Gordon, 30, and Peter Wood, 55, were both convicted of four counts of manslaughter following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.
The truck's driver, Phillip Potter, 20, was cleared of all charges. Outside court he said he thought of the families and those affected every day.
The vehicle, which was carrying aggregate, crashed into cars and pedestrians as it travelled down a steep hill in Bath in February 2015.
Police described it as a "catastrophic" brake failure.
Four-year-old Mitzi Rosanna Steady, who was walking with her grandmother, was killed.
Robert Parker, 59, Philip Allen, 52, and 34-year-old Stephen Vaughan - all from South Wales - were killed when the truck hit their car.
Judge Mr Justice Langstaff remanded Gordon and Wood in custody and will sentence them on 27 January.
Gordon, of Dauntsey in Wiltshire, and Wood, of Brinkworh in Wiltshire, displayed no emotion as the verdicts were revealed.
The jury cleared Mr Potter, also of Dauntsey, of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by careless driving and causing serious injuries to Karla Brennan and Margaret Rogers by dangerous driving.
The trial heard that Mr Potter was following Gordon, the owner of Grittenham Haulage, when the brakes on his 11-year-old vehicle failed in Lansdown Lane, Upper Weston.
He hit Mitzi and her grandmother Mrs Rogers as they crossed the road, before smashing into three parked cars and killing Mr Vaughan, Mr Allen and Mr Parker.
Witnesses said they saw smoke coming from Mr Potter's lorry and smelt the brakes burning.
Mr Potter, who had started his job at the firm days earlier, said he would have never driven the lorry had he known the brakes were faulty.
Describing what happened, he told the jury: "I tried the handbrake. I put it on and nothing. I tried putting the lorry into third gear to try and get the engine to slow it down.
"I was really scared because I never had anything like this happen to me before. I blasted the horn."
Prosecutor Adam Vaitilingham QC told the court Gordon's operation was a "shambles" and the crash was an "accident waiting to happen" because of his "disregard for the rules and a failure to comply with routine guidelines".
He said virtually no problems were recorded in the truck's paperwork and its brakes were not properly tested.
Wood, who was employed to inspect and help maintain the lorries, carried out the final safety check on the vehicle in January 2015.
"If Mr Wood did carry out a safety inspection that day it was wholly inadequate," Mr Vaitilingam said.
Following the verdict, Sian Vaughan, who had been married to Stephen for six months when he died, told Sky News: "This denied us of a family, something we both wanted very much… and especially having to spend your first wedding anniversary alone was just so far removed from what we had planned.
"It has been like an outer body experience. I can't believe what we have been hearing, that someone would have total disregard for other road users."