Sponsored by
Trucker jailed for killing PC
rossparry.co.uk / Andrew McCaren Andrew Abernethy arriving at Leeds Crown Court. Abernethy is charged with Death By Dangerous Driving after PC Mark Goodlad was killed in a collision on the M1 near Crigglestone in West Yorkshire. PC Goodlad was killed when a Scania articulated Lorry driven by Abernethy hit a marked police car & suzuki swift, PC Goodlad was between the two vehichles helping the female driver of the suzuki who had broken down.
A LORRY driver who killed a police officer as he helped a woman on the hard shoulder of the M1 has been jailed for two years and nine months.
PC Mark Goodlad, 41, was killed just outside Crigglestone on October 24, 2011, when he was helping the woman change a flat tyre.
Andrew Abernathy’s lorry veered into the hard shoulder, hitting PC Goodlad’s marked police car which had its sirens on.
PC Goodlad was trapped between his own car and the woman’s car and later died from his injuries.
Yesterday, Leeds Crown Court heard that Abernathy, 45, told police afterwards he had something in his eye which had caused a “momentary lapse of concentration.”
Prosecutor Andrew Dallas said: “The lorry did not swerve into the hard shoulder in circumstances that amounted to a momentary lapse of concentration or anything like it.
“There was no immediate attempt to recover its proper position on the road. On the evidence, it drifted on to the hard shoulder and stayed there.”
Defending, Gary Woodhall, said Abernathy, who had been driving lorries since 2001, fully regretted causing the death of PC Goodlad.
He said Abernathy, of Oldham, had since suffered from post traumatic stress.
Jailing him for death by dangerous driving, Judge Scott Wolstenholme said: “This was more than a momentary lapse of concentration.
“You didn’t intend to drift on to the hard shoulder and drive straight into a police car.
“You did it because you didn’t look and you hadn’t been paying attention to the road for a considerable period of time in driving terms, all the while trundling along in that enormous truck at 50 miles per hour.”
Abernethy was also disqualified from driving for three years.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Letter - Find out what is really happening in the NHS
- Wakefield’s Claire Cooper named Best Actress at British Soap Awards
- Wakefield Wildcats: Mathers set for return at Hull KR as Wildcats sweat on Poore fitness
- Wakefield Wildcats: Half-time lead not enough as Wildcats go down at Hull KR
- ‘Bribes’ being offered to fill disused £14m fire control centre in Wakefield
- Mid Yorkshire Hospitals new deadline to become Foundation Trust
- The Hepworth Wakefield celebrates 2nd birthday with an announcement
- Debbie’s stilton the block after a quarter a centu-brie and “Caerphilly” going for a world record attempt
- ‘Bribes’ being offered to fill disused £14m fire control centre in Wakefield
- Wakefield Council agrees on £1.5m scheme to create 140 jobs
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wakefield
Friday 24 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 28 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North
