A man who killed a couple when his lorry toppled on to their car as he read a text message has recently been jailed for five years and three months.
Ethen Roberts’ vehicle crushed Mark and Tamsie McHale’s Audi on the M62 in West Yorkshire, on 25 July 2012. He had received a message just before hitting the car, causing his lorry to topple over. Roberts admitted causing death by dangerous driving.
When investigators analysed Roberts’ phone they found he had received a message from a friend one minute and 16 seconds before his lorry veered into the couple’s car. They later found he had sent and received almost 100 messages to and from the same friend in the three days leading up to the smash – all when the lorry’s tachograph showed the vehicle was being driven.
