22/12/2016 Points West


22/12/2016

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The verdict in the trial of a deadly crash -

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the driver of the truck that killed four people is cleared.

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Two others are guilty of manslaughter.

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We'll ask if there are other companies operating on the roads

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A haulage boss and a mechanic from Wiltshire are facing long

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prison sentences after a runaway tipper-truck crashed in Bath,

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Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood were both found guilty of manslaughter

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But the young driver of the truck, Phillip Potter, broke down in tears

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Our Bath reporter, Ali Vowles, has been following the case.

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Tonight, I'm at the bottom of Lansdown Lane looking up

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at where the accident happened, just yards from Bath

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and North-East Somerset's largest primary school.

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The owner of Grittenham Haulage, Matthew Gordon, was driving a truck.

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He was followed by his new driver, 19-year-old Philip Potter,

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who at the time, of course, did not know that he was

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As he was coming down the steep Lansdown Lane his brakes failed.

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He hit and killed four-year-old Mitzi Steady, then struck a car

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killing chauffeur Steve Vaughan and his passengers,

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Today, Mitzi's family have said nothing can bring their daughter

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back and they will miss every day for the rest of their lives.

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They added that this verdict sends a clear message that

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when noncompliance results in injury or death, excuses and lies will not

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stand in court and serve only to cause further upset

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The widow of Steve Vaughan has spoken of her absolute devastation

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of losing her husband just six months after they were married.

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I think a spark has definitely gone out in my heart,

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Gordon and Wood were today refused bail and remanded in custody.

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They will receive their sentence on 27th January.

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The man driving the truck that night was Philip Potter,

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a 19-year-old farmer's son from Wiltshire.

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But today he was acquitted - the jury decided he was the victim

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He spoke exclusively to our Social Affairs

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The hardest bit is when you go to sleep, is just seeing the carnage

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unfolding in your head when it happened.

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It's like you press replay in your head every night

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you go to close your eyes and you just see it.

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Walking free from court today, the driver of the tipper-truck,

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Philip Potter, broke down in tears after being cleared

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It was just under two years ago that his life was to change forever.

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The 19-year-old worked on his family's farm.

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To earn extra money, he had taken an apprenticeship

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with this distant cousin Matthew Gordon at

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He was only days into the job when he climbed into the truck

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and followed his new boss out of yard.

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I could see that we were coming into a 20 so I applied

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the brakes a little bit more and there was just nothing.

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It was holding, but it wouldn't slow down any more.

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I slammed it into a lower gear and tried the handbrake - nothing.

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I just held my hand on the horn and just locked my arms solid

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because I didn't know what else I could possibly try and do.

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I just wanted to warn people that there was a lorry

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By the time he managed to stop the truck, four people were dead.

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Philip Potter was taken to hospital, where his mother confirmed to him

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Do you remember when they told you that Philip had been driving

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He was in a hell of a state and they told me then

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that there were fatalities before I went in to see him and he said,

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Do you think about those people who died?

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We had trees planted on the anniversary

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We had the vicar in to bless them because we thought

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Four young trees to mark the four lives lost.

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This one is for Mitzi because when it's blooming it comes out pink.

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It's always going to be here for the rest of my life.

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It might just be me that might know about them,

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but in my heart I know what they are there for.

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A quiet minute, come up and just think about

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Yeah, in a way because if I hadn't have been in the lorry then it

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wouldn't have been me, but it could have happened to any

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driver that was in it because of this state of the lorry.

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Philip Potter says he will never forget those terrible

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He knows that he can never rewind the clock,

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but after today's verdict clearing him from any crime,

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30-year-old Matthew Gordon was Philip Potter's boss.

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After the crash, Gordon, admitted eight offences of exceeding

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driving hours in the three months before the accident.

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His company pleaded guilty to 33 similar offences.

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Last September, the Traffic Commissioner disqualified him

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and took away his operating licence for two years.

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Scott Ellis reports on the lorry boss and the mechanic

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who are tonight awaiting a prison sentence.

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As this tragedy unfolded, Matthew Gordon knew he was guilty.

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Deciding amid the loss of life not to call the emergency services

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or admit to a police officer he owned the overturned truck

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and telling the injured driver not to mention a brake warning light

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was on, before disappearing back to his lorry yard.

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Grittenham Haulage was based here on White's Farm,

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near Brinkworth in Wiltshire in that green building.

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It was the first time Matthew Gordon had run a company and in court

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we learned it was a shambles from start to finish,

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a company that had no grip on how to maintain a fleet of lorries.

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The jury were shown photos of these bodged brake repairs

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Gordon said he didn't cut corners when it came to maintenance.

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The jury, and this Wiltshire HGV instructor, think otherwise.

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It could cost you up to about ?1,000 per truck per month and just simply

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by not doing maintenance properly you cut those costs.

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This driver worked for Gordon and says he rushed drivers to get

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When I did work for him it was, like, I've got to get here,

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Mattthew Gordon's mechanic, Peter Wood, here on the left,

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He recorded no defects on the lorry's brakes

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when he inspected it just a few weeks before the crash.

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The Freight Transport Association represents hauliers.

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I asked James Hookham from the organisation if the rules

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on lorry safety in the UK were tight enough.

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Well, the British operating licence system is one of the longest

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established and one of the most demanding standards for goods

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vehicle operation in the whole of Europe and, in our experience,

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So it does send rather a big alarm bell to the industry, then.

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I think it will remind responsible operators that these standards

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are taken very seriously and I don't think we should underestimate

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the severity of the verdicts that were brought in.

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They are verdicts for manslaughter, which are some of most serious

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charges that can be brought against an individual

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So this isn't just a technical breach of the regulations,

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this is only a few degrees short of murder.

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So these are very serious charges that these individuals have

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Would you say there are other operators

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Well, if there are, I hope they are feeling very uncomfortable

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by the verdicts of the court and that they take immediate steps

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to address and review what they are doing to ensure

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that they do meet the standards that are required of them.

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It comes down to the individual responsibility of those granted

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a licence to actually do what they promised to do.

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I am sure that this will send an important and urgent reminder

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to all those involved in the industry that these standards

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are taken very seriously and must be adhered to.

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There are more of today's other stories on the BBC News website

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and on your local BBC Radio stations where you are.

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For now, I'll say goodnight and leave you with Ian,

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Tomorrow will be turning a windy day and it will have a wet phase as well

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as forgetting to the afternoon. Prior to that that should be a lot

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of dry weather about and it should be comparatively mild, despite

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turning increasingly windy. For the rest of the night temperatures

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dropping down to between one and three Celsius. The wind will pick

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up. Prior to then we could get that touch of frost trying to form. Some

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fog has been trying to form ready. At first light tomorrow, dry start

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with the wind will be a feature. The black arrows are the gusts of wind,

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and it will be dry through the morning. There is a yellow warning

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from the Met office tomorrow for the squally winds. They could touch 50

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were 60 mph. After that we will start to see the skies clearing

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through the evening. Bar 12 showers, it will be dry. Temperatures getting

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up the side tomorrow as 11 Celsius. It will turn chilly as we head into

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Christmas itself, it's not white, but it's

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warm. Temperatures could reach

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