Crash driver’s jail sentence cut

AN Oldham lorry driver who caused a motorway pile-up when he failed to spot slowing traffic has had his prison sentence cut by appeal judges in London.

Alan Jenkinson (50), of Hawksley Street, Hollinwood, caused the crash when he drove into the back of stationary and slowing vehicles on the A1, in South Yorkshire.

In April, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving at Doncaster Crown Court, he was jailed for a year and banned from driving for five years.

But yesterday at an appeal hearing in London, his lawyers won a three-month cut in his sentence and a two-year reduction in his driving disqualification.

Mr Justice Simon, sitting at the Court of Appeal with Lord Justice Moses and Judge Francis Gilbert QC, said Jenkinson deserved prison, but not for as long as 12 months.

He had been driving a heavily-laden lorry southwards on the A1 on the morning of November 26, 2009, when traffic in front began to slow.

But, with the low sun in his eyes, he failed to spot the brake lights of other vehicles and ploughed into the back of the line of traffic.

Six other vehicles became involved, as Jenkinson’s HGV pushed them off the road and into each other, causing numerous motorists injury.

He immediately admitted he was at fault, but blamed the sun and pleaded guilty on the basis that his driving fell below the standard that should have been expected.

His lawyers argued that the sentence was too long. The conviction had had a terrible effect on Jenkinson, taking away his livelihood and plunging him into debt, the court was told.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Simon said: “The photographs of the cars displaced in the carriageway show how fortuitous it was that no one was killed. In our view an immediate sentence of imprisonment was inevitable. However, we have come to the conclusion that the appropriate sentence was a term of nine months’ imprisonment.”

Jenkinson will be banned from driving for three years, but his lawyers told the court it is highly unlikely that he will return to lorry driving in the future.