HGV driver distracted by pornographic images on phone seconds before fatal crash
An HGV driver was distracted by pornography images on his phone just seconds before he killed a father of two in a motorway collision, a court has heard.
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Photographs of naked women appeared on the X social media feed of Neil Platt, 43, moments before the horrific crash near junction four of the M58 in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, on May 17 last year.
A "heavily distracted" Platt failed to notice stationary traffic ahead of him and struck the Hyundai Kona car of Danny Aitchison, 46, as he waited at the end of a queue.
Mr Aitchison’s vehicle was pushed into the rear of a tanker and his car exploded into flames on impact.
Preston Crown Court heard that Platt persistently viewed content on his phone during a three-hour journey from Dumfries, Scotland, along the M6 and then when he joined the westbound carriageway of the M58.
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Jailing Platt on Friday for 10 years, Judge Ian Unsworth KC said: "Your arrogant and selfish attitude to driving was quite breathtaking.
"You willingly and without any excuse chose to ignore the laws of the road.
'This was not a one-off glance on your phone… you were looking at such things as X, TikTok and YouTube.
"The collision that occurred could have happened anywhere along that journey.
"The blunt reality is you travelled well over 100 miles in what was sometimes a highly distracted state.
"In short, you were a multi-tonne accident waiting to happen."
Platt, of Bootle, Merseyside, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing the death of Mr Aitchison, from Liverpool.
He will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody and on his release will be banned from driving for seven years.
The collision took place just before 1pm after police had earlier put in place a rolling roadblock after reports of a woman pedestrian on the motorway.
Mr Aitchison was at the end of a queue in lane one but Platt failed to notice the stationary traffic and applied his brakes only 35 metres away and just 1.5 seconds before impact.
Judge Unsworth said there was no evidence to suggest the defendant was searching for porn before the crash but said he had "prioritised looking at social media" over the welfare and safety of other road users.
He told him: "You were distracted by doing something so mindblowingly stupid.
"You were not paying attention to what was ahead but you were paying attention to your phone.
'It beggars belief that while in charge of that muli-tonne vehicle you were looking at social media and scrolling X in which some of the content was pornographic in nature."
Stephen McNally, defending, said "family-orientated" Platt, a father himself, was "genuinely remorseful".
He said: "Even though the defendant’s mobile phone was in a cradle and in front of him, this case provides an object lesson in demonstrating that even for the most experienced of drivers, not giving the road your undivided attention and concentration can have the most devastating consequences."
Platt, a HGV driver for 15 years, was described as "hating himself" for the trauma he had caused.
Mr Aitchison’s partner Kerry, mother to his children Ella, 17, and Jack, 10, told the court she was on the phone to him at the time of his death and assumed his battery had run out of charge.
"I feel angry he has lost his life in such a way.
"He was just coming home to me and the kids.
'Their hero has gone."
His mother Jeanette Aitchison said: "Danny had a good relationship with every member of our family.
"He was a constant presence in their lives.
"He was the centre of our family, he was always there for his friends and colleagues, Danny would do anything for anyone.
"The loss of Danny has had a significant impact on me and my family.
"Quite simply, I feel devastated.
"The decision to drive while scrolling for a prolonged period of time on a mobile phone, let alone using a HGV, is utterly crazy."
Andrew Aitchison said his eldest brother was "the life of any party even if he didn’t know anyone else at the party".
Family members told the court of their anguish of not being able to hold his funeral for weeks until DNA tests identified him.