An ex-paratrooper who became a truck driver and killed a parent when he dozed off while operating an articulated truck and watching Netflix on his iPad has been sentenced to five years and two months in prison.
In the early morning hours of September 24, 2020, James Emrys Lewis was driving a Scania truck along the M4, but he was unaware that traffic had stopped in front of him because of a moving police roadblock caused by a deadly collision on the opposite carriageway.
Lewis’ lorry was traveling at 86 kilometers per hour when it “catastrophically” struck a highway maintenance car, smashing it in between his car and another lorry (53 miles per hour).
Simon “Clodge” Clover, 50, a front-seat passenger, died instantaneously, while Mark Henderson, the driver, was seriously hurt.
At the time of the crash, the two were making their way back to Cardiff, Wales.
According to data that collision investigators were able to get from the truck and present to the court, Lewis didn’t begin to brake until he was only seven meters away from the traffic line.
Lewis said that he was listening to his iPad while it was in his luggage and streaming a Netflix show.
Lewis was sentenced to five years and two months in prison by Judge Taylor after receiving a 25% reduction for entering an early plea.
In addition, he received a five-year driving prohibition that was extended by 31 months to account for the time he will spend in jail.
Before being given permission to hold a license once more, Lewis must additionally pass an extended retest.
Rebecca Clover, a daughter of Mr. Clover, read a victim statement to the court on her mother’s behalf. She stated that the family hasn’t been able to bring themselves to wash his pillowcase.
According to the mother’s account, she was wondering where her husband was while seated at the dining room table of their Cardiff house when she noticed a police car passing slowly.
I was aware that they were pursuing us.
I collapsed on the ground while screaming. For the rest of our lives, that day will be in our memories.
“We are finding it difficult to comprehend and accept [what happened].
“He has yet to come home and inform us that he was working; we are still waiting.
The worst feeling in the world is realizing we won’t see him again.
As she read from the statement and occasionally glanced towards Lewis who was sitting in the dock, Rebecca said, “I feel like we are the ones who were issued a life sentence.”
We are the ones who have suffered the greatest loss in our life.
“No justice matter will be sufficient.
My children lost their father, and I lost my soul mate and the love of my life.
We are irreparably damaged.
In addition to a fractured left rib, a dislocated left knee that required two surgeries, a fracture to the left side of his pelvis that was mended with screws and a metal plate, Mr. Henderson also sustained a laceration to his spleen.
Additionally, he sustained soft tissue damage to his left heel that required reconstructive surgery.
He first stayed in the hospital for two months before coming back for a third month.
He captured Covid when he got back.
In a statement read in court by the prosecution’s Rob Welling, the defendant said, “I tried to put into words the impact this has had on myself and my family.”
“The things that happened that morning will stay with me forever.”
That morning, I lost more than a friend and a coworker; I lost myself as well.
Mr. Welling had earlier described the crash night as a “double tragedy.”
He said that the M4’s eastbound carriageway, between junctions 17 and 18, had already experienced a tragic collision, prompting police to close the entire highway.
A rolling blockade was started at roughly 2.20am, an hour before the collision, when traffic was already reduced to one lane due to nighttime road work.
An examination eventually revealed that Mr. Henderson had seen the traffic line 1.2 kilometers away from the crash site at roughly 3.21 am.
The defendant hit Mr. Henderson’s car from behind while operating his Scania articulated lorry and failed to detect the single line of traffic in front of him.
It was “catastrophically smashed” between the defendant’s truck and the truck in front of him.
Even the truck driver who was driving before Mr. Henderson and Mr. Clover was given a three-week leave of absence from work due to injuries to his neck, back, ribs, and jaw.
While Mr. Welling alleged that Lewis was watching a Netflix show on his iPad at the time, Lewis insisted that the device was in his bag and that he was actually listening to it.
The conclusion is that, for whatever reason, the defendant spent longer than a minute not paying attention to the road in front of him.
The evidence might substantiate what he claimed to have been doing while asleep.
Nothing James Hartson stated in his mitigation was meant to downplay how terrible the situation was or how much of an impact it would have on the families of Mr. Clover and Mr. Henderson.
Lewis, of Pretoria Road in Tonyrefail, Wales, was described as having “positively good reputation” and having no prior infractions, warnings, or license revocations.
He continued, saying that while serving as a paratrooper in Iraq and Afghanistan, his commanding officer referred to him as a “skilled soldier and a man of integrity.”
In light of his otherwise spotless life, Mr. Hartson said, “He realizes that this one episode that fateful morning will characterize him and that is a shame.”
Judge Jason Taylor QC, who presided over the sentencing at Swindon Crown Court, said that Lewis, 38, should have been aware of what was happening in front of him.
“Your grounds for plea is that you were asleep; nonetheless, such a seemingly innocent conduct has had a terrible effect on the two families.
No one in this courtroom could have avoided being moved by the victims’ statements’ unadulterated emotion.
“Neither what I do nor say will be able to ease their sorrow, rage, or sense of loss.
This accident was completely unnecessary and preventable, and you alone are to blame for that.