Crash lorry driver jailed for 4 years

A driver who was texting at the wheel of his lorry when it crashed into a car on the motorway killing a nurse has been jailed for 4 years.

Nicholas Liever, from Fishtoft, was driving a Volvo HGV which collided with a Volkswagen Passat, an Iveco Vehicle Transporter and a Volkswagen Toureg on the M62 near Huddersfield on the 5th September 2019.

The driver of the Passat suffered injuries that proved to be fatal.

Police found that Liever had been exchanging text messages in the time leading up to the collision – sending the last one at around the time of the crash.

It also found he had attempted to delete the data from his phone, but this was retrieved by a specialist investigator.

In interview, he told police that he was not distracted at the time of the collision and claimed that it was unavoidable, however, he admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years and four months on March 3.

Speaking after sentencing at Leeds Crown Court, Detective Constable Jenny Stanley, of the major collision enquiry team, said: "This is yet another example of how dangerous using a mobile phone at the wheel of a moving vehicle can be.