Bath lorry crash: haulage boss and his mechanic jailed
A HAULAGE boss and his mechanic were jailed yesterday for the manslaughter of four people, including a four-year-old, who were killed by a lorry with faulty brakes.
Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood have received their prison sentences
Matthew Gordon was given a seven-and-a-half years sentence.
Peter Wood was given a sentence of five years and three months.
Young Mitzi died and her grandmother, Margaret Rogers, suffered serious injuries when they were hit by the 32-tonne truck as they crossed the road while holding hands.
The runaway vehicle continued to career down a steep hill in Bath, Somerset, killing three men in a car.
They were Stephen Vaughan, 34, and Philip Allen, 52, both of Swansea, and Robert Parker, 59, of Cwmbran.
Grittenham Haulage boss Gordon, 30, of Dauntsey, Wiltshire, and Wood, 55, of Brinkworth, Wiltshire, were convicted after the trial at Bristol Crown Court.
The runaway vehicle weighed 32 tonnes
The driver of the truck, Philip Potter was cleared of all charges
The driver of the truck, Phillip Potter, 20, was cleared of all charges.
Mr Justice Langstaff told the duo they had a “cavalier” attitude to maintaining the firm’s vehicles.
Emmajade Steady, Mitzi’s mother, said in a statement that the “preventable crash” had devastated her entire family.