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| Bath tipper truck crash: Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood jailed | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A haulage boss and a mechanic have been jailed following a 2015 tipper truck crash that killed four people in Bath. | A haulage boss and a mechanic have been jailed following a 2015 tipper truck crash that killed four people in Bath. |
| Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to seven and a-half years and five years three months, respectively. | Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to seven and a-half years and five years three months, respectively. |
| They were told the lorry had "truly serious faults" that were "obvious to anyone". | They were told the lorry had "truly serious faults" that were "obvious to anyone". |
| Mitzi Steady, four, Robert Parker, 59, Philip Allen, 52, and Stephen Vaughan, 34, died in the crash in February 2015. | Mitzi Steady, four, Robert Parker, 59, Philip Allen, 52, and Stephen Vaughan, 34, died in the crash in February 2015. |
| Philip Potter, 20, the truck's driver, was cleared of dangerous and careless driving following a trial in December. | |
| Mitzi, from Bath, was one of a number of pedestrians struck when the lorry, which had faulty brakes, sped out of control on Lansdown Hill. | Mitzi, from Bath, was one of a number of pedestrians struck when the lorry, which had faulty brakes, sped out of control on Lansdown Hill. |
| Mr Allen and Mr Vaughan, both from Swansea, and Mr Parker, from Cwmbran, south Wales, were in a car hit by the vehicle. | Mr Allen and Mr Vaughan, both from Swansea, and Mr Parker, from Cwmbran, south Wales, were in a car hit by the vehicle. |
| For more on this and other Bath stories visit the live page for the West of England. | |
| Mr Justice Langstaff said Gordon and Wood had a "cavalier" attitude to maintaining the firm's vehicles. | |
| Sentencing, the judge said: "I accept that neither of you intended death or injury or even brake failure. You did not wish it. | |
| "But the fact is that a lorry as heavy as this is likely to cause serious injury and death to members of the public unless properly maintained." | |
| In addition to those killed, Margaret Rogers - Mitzi's grandmother - suffered life-changing injuries when the 32-tonne lorry crashed into them as they crossed the road. | |
| Karla Brennan was also seriously injured when the lorry, which was delivering aggregate from Shorncote Quarry to a park and ride, hit her car. | |
| Mr Justice Langstaff told Gordon and Wood: "The brakes are critical. You know this. You knew that being casual about the safety risked the lives of others. Your failures are inexplicable. | |
| "If they were one-off failures that would be bad enough, but they are not. They were part and parcel of the way you approached your responsibilities." | |
| The incident was described as "horrific" by Avon and Somerset Police, which led a 22-month investigation into the crash. | |
| DCI Richard Ocone said the sentences reflected the seriousness of the offences committed. | |
| "As a company owner, Matthew Gordon had no transport manager and effectively flouted every regulation, which had been put in place to ensure safety," he said. | |
| "His mechanic, Peter Wood, signed off vehicles as safe when they clearly were not. | |
| "Detailed and complex investigations showed many of the faults on the vehicle were longstanding - highlighted by the fact that the brakes on the lorry at the time of the crash were totally inadequate, having an overall efficiency of just 28 per cent." |