:00:00. > :00:19.The carnage was caused by terrible maintenance from the haulage company
:00:20. > :00:26.who cut corners to save money, leaving relatives to grieve.
:00:27. > :00:29.I think a spark has definitely gone out in my heart, even though he's
:00:30. > :00:38.The driver was only a teenager at the time.
:00:39. > :00:41.We have an exclusive interview, as the jury decides
:00:42. > :00:48.The hardest bit is when you go to sleep, just seeing the carnage
:00:49. > :00:50.unfolding in your head, when it happened.
:00:51. > :00:52.It's like you press replay in your head every night you
:00:53. > :00:59.go to close your eyes and you just see it.
:01:00. > :01:02.How many other cowboy companies are out there who don't
:01:03. > :01:10.Two years on, I'm back in Weston to find out how the community
:01:11. > :01:27.is coping with the tragedy as it approaches another Christmas.
:01:28. > :01:30.It's Christmas, but I'm afraid there's little festive cheer tonight
:01:31. > :01:32.after a jury came back with a devastating verdict
:01:33. > :01:35.on the tipper-truck crash in Bath which claimed four lives,
:01:36. > :01:41.Haulage boss Matthew Gordon and mechanic Peter Wood,
:01:42. > :01:43.both from Wiltshire, were convicted of manslaughter
:01:44. > :01:47.after a trial exposed the shocking state of the lorry.
:01:48. > :01:50.The young driver, Philip Potter, broke down in tears
:01:51. > :01:55.Afterwards, the police made this statement.
:01:56. > :01:58.The fact of the matter is that both men failed in their duty
:01:59. > :02:03.Matthew Gordon had no transport manager and effectively flouted
:02:04. > :02:06.every regulation laid down to ensure safety.
:02:07. > :02:08.Peter Wood signed off vehicles as safe when,
:02:09. > :02:13.Many of the faults at the time of this crash were long-standing.
:02:14. > :02:16.Both were aware of previous problems with the brakes on this vehicle
:02:17. > :02:40.and did not take action when they had a duty to.
:02:41. > :02:51.They picked up the last load of the day from a quarry. They drove in
:02:52. > :02:57.convoy along the M4, past bat with racecourse before heading down the
:02:58. > :03:07.notoriously steep Lansdown Lane. This is a fully laden 32 tonne
:03:08. > :03:12.Scania tipper truck. At the width restriction, one truck stop, but
:03:13. > :03:16.Phillip Archer could not stop, the Brits had failed. The X brother died
:03:17. > :03:22.the hill he swerved to avoid the bus and hit and killed for you two and
:03:23. > :03:28.injured her granny, Margaret Rogers. Seconds later he struck a car. The
:03:29. > :03:35.three men inside died instantly and they were Stephen Von, a chauffeur,
:03:36. > :03:40.and two businessmen, Robert Parker and Philip Allen. The runaway tipper
:03:41. > :03:43.truck came to a stop on its side. In less than ten minutes, the lives of
:03:44. > :03:50.poor families had been shattered. the two businessmen from Bath
:03:51. > :04:02.and take them back to Wales. He had been married
:04:03. > :04:04.for just six months. His widow, Sian, has been
:04:05. > :04:06.describing her husband Everybody he came into contact
:04:07. > :04:10.with instantly took a shine to him. Very much a cheeky chappie,
:04:11. > :04:13.but I think that went in his favour Just a very, very
:04:14. > :04:16.likeable gentleman. How long had the two
:04:17. > :04:18.of you been together? We had been together
:04:19. > :04:20.just over four years. We were married in 2014,
:04:21. > :04:28.on 27th August, out in Turkey, which was one of our holiday
:04:29. > :04:31.destinations that we We fell in love with it,
:04:32. > :04:36.and fell in love with each You said that you had said goodbye,
:04:37. > :04:40.kissed him goodbye. Then what happened for
:04:41. > :04:42.you and for him that day. We both went out our
:04:43. > :04:46.separate ways with work. I contacted Steve at about 12:30pm,
:04:47. > :04:50.like we did every day, just to see how each other's
:04:51. > :04:53.days were going. He said he would be home
:04:54. > :04:56.at the same time as me, roughly at about five o'clock
:04:57. > :04:59.in the evening. He had a call coming in so I had
:05:00. > :05:03.to rush off the phone. I said I loved him and he obviously
:05:04. > :05:07.was rushing to get off the phone and he didn't get to say it back,
:05:08. > :05:10.and that was the last It was just horrendous,
:05:11. > :05:17.to be told that your husband has been hit by a 32-tonne tipper-truck
:05:18. > :05:20.and dragged down the road in the car, and all the emotions,
:05:21. > :05:24.really, that went with that. And being asked if I could
:05:25. > :05:27.identify him the next day. You say all the emotions,
:05:28. > :05:38.can you describe for me what emotions you felt,
:05:39. > :05:41.and what this journey has been like for you over the last nearly
:05:42. > :05:44.two years since that moment Just completely lost, really,
:05:45. > :05:51.like as if you have had your right arm or your left arm chopped off,
:05:52. > :05:57.and there's that piece just missing. I think a spark has definitely
:05:58. > :06:02.gone out in my heart, It has just been a horrendous time,
:06:03. > :06:11.I wouldn't wish it on anybody. You have sat through
:06:12. > :06:14.so much of the court case. What have been the hardest things
:06:15. > :06:17.to hear in terms of the evidence Mainly that things could have been
:06:18. > :06:25.avoided and, potentially, I would have had Steve with the now
:06:26. > :06:28.by my side. I would never have had to go
:06:29. > :06:32.through all of this. And, hopefully, if that was
:06:33. > :06:35.the case, we would have had a family by now which we've been denied,
:06:36. > :06:42.whereas the owner of the company has gone on to have a child and has one
:06:43. > :06:46.on the way, as well. I feel very upset over that,
:06:47. > :06:49.that he's gone on to have a life The only person to walk free
:06:50. > :07:03.from court today was the young man behind the wheel
:07:04. > :07:07.of the tipper truck. The jury decided Philip Potter was
:07:08. > :07:10.the victim of an unscrupulous boss. These are the pictures,
:07:11. > :07:14.shown in court, of the rusty His defence argued it was
:07:15. > :07:22."an accident destined to occur". Philip Potter has been speaking
:07:23. > :07:24.exclusively to our Social Affairs The hardest bit is when you go
:07:25. > :07:39.to sleep is just seeing the carnage unfolding in your head
:07:40. > :07:41.when it happened. It is like you press replay
:07:42. > :07:43.in your head every night you go to close your eyes
:07:44. > :07:48.and you just see it. Just thinking of the four
:07:49. > :07:50.people all the time. Thinking how horrible it must
:07:51. > :07:52.be for the families, just how hard it would be to lose
:07:53. > :07:55.someone you love so much. Walking free from court today,
:07:56. > :07:58.the driver of the tipper-truck, Philip Potter, broke down in tears
:07:59. > :08:00.after being cleared It was just under two years ago
:08:01. > :08:08.that his life was to change forever. The 19-year-old worked
:08:09. > :08:17.on his family's farm. To earn extra money,
:08:18. > :08:19.he had taken an apprenticeship with this distant cousin, Matthew
:08:20. > :08:25.Gordon at Grittenham Haulage. He was only days into the job
:08:26. > :08:28.when he climbed into the truck Because it was not under any great
:08:29. > :08:38.braking pressures because I wasn't going down any hills,
:08:39. > :08:41.there wasn't really much at all. Obviously, the hill that I went down
:08:42. > :08:45.was very, very steep. I had never been down
:08:46. > :08:49.it before in my life. The court was told and amber warning
:08:50. > :08:53.light had come on on his dashboard, indicating a potential problem
:08:54. > :08:55.with the brakes. Phillip said he reported this
:08:56. > :08:58.to his boss and was told, I was going round the
:08:59. > :09:04.first couple of bends. I didn't know the road at all,
:09:05. > :09:10.so I was not rushing at all. Going down the hill I see him come
:09:11. > :09:15.to a halt at a traffic calming. At that point it was coming
:09:16. > :09:20.into a 20, I was doing about 25. I could see that we were coming
:09:21. > :09:23.into a 20 so I applied the brakes a little bit more
:09:24. > :09:26.and there was just nothing. It was holding, but it
:09:27. > :09:33.wouldn't slow down any more. I slammed it into a lower gear
:09:34. > :09:36.and tried to handbrake and just held my hand on the horn and just
:09:37. > :09:39.dropped my arms solid because I didn't know what else
:09:40. > :09:41.I could possibly try and do. I just wanted to warn people
:09:42. > :09:44.that there was a lorry By the time he managed to stop
:09:45. > :09:48.the truck, four people were dead. Philip Potter was taken to hospital,
:09:49. > :09:51.where his mother confirmed to him You remember when they told you that
:09:52. > :09:57.Philip had been driving The police had said that he's
:09:58. > :10:09.in such a state that we can't really get anything out of him
:10:10. > :10:11.at the moment, He was in a hell of a state
:10:12. > :10:23.and they told me then the talent he is before I went
:10:24. > :10:28.in to see him and he said, Mum, He just needed someone to confirm
:10:29. > :10:37.that it was what he thought it was. I can remember just hugging him
:10:38. > :10:40.and saying, Philip, if you couldn't We believed him straightaway
:10:41. > :10:43.because we knew he has been driving vehicles for so long that if he had
:10:44. > :10:47.no brakes, he had no brakes. He said, I was trying to warn people
:10:48. > :10:50.to get out of the way. He said I was like that,
:10:51. > :10:53.get out of the way, because I was trying to get
:10:54. > :10:55.it to stop. I was trying to stop it
:10:56. > :10:57.and I couldn't stop it. Do you think about
:10:58. > :10:59.those people who died? We had trees planted
:11:00. > :11:03.on the anniversary We have the vicar in to bless
:11:04. > :11:08.them because we thought Because Philip is never
:11:09. > :11:19.going to forget that. The family is never going to forget
:11:20. > :11:24.it, so it was the right thing. Four young trees to mark
:11:25. > :11:32.the four lives lost. This one is for Mitzi because once
:11:33. > :11:35.it's blooming it comes out pink. It is always going to be
:11:36. > :11:42.here for the rest of my life. It might just be me that
:11:43. > :11:45.will know about them, but in my heart I know
:11:46. > :11:47.what they are there for. A quiet minute, come up, think about
:11:48. > :11:50.what happened that day, really. Yeah, in a way because if I hadn't
:11:51. > :11:58.have been in the lorry then it wouldn't have been me,
:11:59. > :12:00.but it could have happened to any driver that was in it
:12:01. > :12:03.because of this state of the lorry. So, yeah, if it wasn't me it
:12:04. > :12:06.would have been someone else, so it was going to happen at some
:12:07. > :12:09.point, which is the worst Philip Potter says he will never
:12:10. > :12:22.forget those terrible He knows that he can't rewind
:12:23. > :12:33.the clock, but after today's verdict, clearing him from any
:12:34. > :12:35.crime, 30-year-old Matthew Gordon
:12:36. > :12:43.was Philip Potter's boss. Tonight, we can reveal more shocking
:12:44. > :12:45.news about his firm, After the crash, Gordon,
:12:46. > :12:51.admitted eight offences of exceeding driving hours in the three months
:12:52. > :12:53.before the accident. His company pleaded guilty
:12:54. > :13:00.to 33 similar offences. Last September, the Traffic
:13:01. > :13:02.Commissioner disqualified him and took away his operating licence
:13:03. > :13:04.for two years. Scott Ellis has been finding out
:13:05. > :13:07.more about the lorry boss and the mechanic who're tonight
:13:08. > :13:13.awaiting sentence in prison. Phillip Potter may have been
:13:14. > :13:16.at the wheel of the runaway lorry, but the blood is on the hands
:13:17. > :13:18.of Matthew Gordon. He is, above all others,
:13:19. > :13:22.to blame for the crash. And he knew it the moment
:13:23. > :13:25.tragedy struck deciding, amid the loss of life,
:13:26. > :13:27.not to call the emergency services or admit to a police officer
:13:28. > :13:34.he owned the overturned truck and telling the injured driver
:13:35. > :13:36.not to mention a brake warning light was on,
:13:37. > :13:38.before disappearing Grittenham Haulage was based here
:13:39. > :13:46.at White s Farm near Brinkworth. It was Matthew Gordon's first
:13:47. > :13:51.business and it's been described as a "shambles from start
:13:52. > :13:54.to finish", and that he didn't have "a grip on how to maintain
:13:55. > :13:58.a fleet of lorries", either because he didn't know
:13:59. > :14:03.the rules, or he didn't care. It seems he'd put
:14:04. > :14:07.profit before safety. Scania tipper-trucks have a drum
:14:08. > :14:13.brake on each of their eight wheels, but in Matthew Gordon's lorry,
:14:14. > :14:16.six were not adjusted correctly. The jury were shown photos of these
:14:17. > :14:18.bodged brake repairs. Gordon said he didn't cut corners
:14:19. > :14:23.when it came to maintenance. The jury, and this Wiltshire HGV
:14:24. > :14:39.instructor, think otherwise. You could almost call them cowboys.
:14:40. > :14:43.Running trucks is expensive, it could cost ?2000 per truck per
:14:44. > :14:45.month. Simply by not doing maintenance properly, you those
:14:46. > :14:53.This driver's worked for Gordon for a short time but left.
:14:54. > :14:59.I nearly made the mistake of going to work for him again, until I saw
:15:00. > :15:04.the equipment. It checked out the lorry and the trailer and I wasn't
:15:05. > :15:07.He also says Gordon rushed his drivers to get more
:15:08. > :15:11.That is backed up by evidence in court -
:15:12. > :15:18.that Gordon texted his partner complaining Potter was slow.
:15:19. > :15:27.You can only do what you can't eat in the time period, no questions
:15:28. > :15:32.asked. I wasn't being pushed about, I wasn't being bullied, and that's
:15:33. > :15:39.Other drivers told us it's an industry-wide problem.
:15:40. > :15:45.There are a lot of Billy Boyd owners. If you don't do it, somebody
:15:46. > :15:48.If you don't do it, somebody else will do it.
:15:49. > :15:50.The haulage industry is closely regulated.
:15:51. > :15:52.Checks are made on operators at MoT's and at roadside inspections.
:15:53. > :15:58.So, will the Bath crash be a wake-up call for the industry?
:15:59. > :16:05.I hope people have learned from it. I don't know. Only time will tell
:16:06. > :16:08.Mattthew Gordon's mechanic, Peter Wood, is also guilty
:16:09. > :16:10.of manslaughter, having recorded no defects on the lorry's brakes
:16:11. > :16:16.when he inspected it a few weeks before the crash.
:16:17. > :16:18.In a statement today, Mitzi Steady s family said nothing
:16:19. > :16:21.can bring their daughter back and they will miss her every day
:16:22. > :16:28.They also continue, this "verdict sends a clear message that
:16:29. > :16:31.where non-compliance results in injury or death, excuses and lies
:16:32. > :16:34.will not stand in court and serve only to cause further upset
:16:35. > :16:37.Joining us now from London is Duncan Buchanan from
:16:38. > :16:59.Was this company and member of your organisation? At the time of the
:17:00. > :17:03.incident, no they weren't. What I would like to say is my sympathy
:17:04. > :17:08.does go to everyone who has been affected by this incident. It was a
:17:09. > :17:15.truly shocking incident and everything in your reports indicates
:17:16. > :17:19.just how terrible it was. But they have joined your organisation now.
:17:20. > :17:25.What do you make of the conduct of the firm? The conduct of the firm
:17:26. > :17:28.was completely unacceptable. They joined our organisation after the
:17:29. > :17:36.incident in an effort to try and legitimise themselves. They had an
:17:37. > :17:39.audit done on the compliance with operators licensing. That all the
:17:40. > :17:46.joy that they were noncompliant in a huge range of areas. To an
:17:47. > :17:53.unforgivable extent. It really is the shameful example of an
:17:54. > :17:59.organisation failing to meet the most minimum of standards. The big
:18:00. > :18:03.question is how they got away with it and high many other cowboy
:18:04. > :18:09.operators are driving 32 tonne trucks which have not been properly
:18:10. > :18:16.maintained. Fortunately, this is not a very common issue for this level
:18:17. > :18:23.of noncompliance. This is probably the most serious one I have ever
:18:24. > :18:30.seen in the industry. So, I would not actually cast the entirety of
:18:31. > :18:35.the injury -- industry with this level of noncompliance. Do you know
:18:36. > :18:41.that? Is the system in place that works well to flag up when there are
:18:42. > :18:47.concerns? There are systems in place that noncompliant operators. There
:18:48. > :18:52.is a comprehensive point-scoring system that assesses operators and
:18:53. > :18:55.targets operators for on road enforcement and four in force within
:18:56. > :19:00.the premises. Where were they then in this case? In this particular
:19:01. > :19:09.case, you would probably need to discuss that with the PDSA. From the
:19:10. > :19:12.Road haulage Association's perspective, we recognise that
:19:13. > :19:18.enforcement is probably not at the level we would like to see. We would
:19:19. > :19:24.like to see more on road enforcement done. We recognise the good work
:19:25. > :19:29.that the imports when people do, but there is not enough of them. We will
:19:30. > :19:32.have to leave it there. Thank you for coming on the programme tonight.
:19:33. > :19:35.It's now been nearly two years since the accident in the close-knit
:19:36. > :19:39.Our Bath reporter Ali Vowles has returned to the scene of the crash
:19:40. > :19:51.I am at the bottom of the Lansdown Lane at the roundabout looking up at
:19:52. > :19:56.the hill but the accident happened on that fateful afternoon in
:19:57. > :20:01.February. The traffic then was stopped. There was an eerie silence
:20:02. > :20:05.is all the media waiting here, myself included, desperately tried
:20:06. > :20:09.to find out what was happening, such a contrast to the busyness of the
:20:10. > :20:14.road tonight. I have been finding out how this community and hope that
:20:15. > :20:17.the time and how it is healing its scars.
:20:18. > :20:23.It was just after four in the afternoon on the ninth of debris
:20:24. > :20:28.2015 when the brakes on Phillip Archer's truck field on the
:20:29. > :20:32.victorious road. Four people lost their lives, two were seriously
:20:33. > :20:36.injured. When I arrived, it was the scene of carnage, really. At the
:20:37. > :20:42.scene. Ed Valentine, have volunteered with a Wiltshire -based
:20:43. > :20:46.charity. Working closely with all of the ambulance, he coordinated the
:20:47. > :20:50.medical care that was needed. Everyone was completely shocked that
:20:51. > :20:55.the scale of the devastation. At the time you deal with that in a
:20:56. > :20:59.professional way, we have a job to do and we do that. Afterwards, when
:21:00. > :21:04.you reflect on what has happened, you go back to your family, I think
:21:05. > :21:09.that is the time it gets very, very difficult, and that is the hardest
:21:10. > :21:15.thing that we all do our best, the emergency services did the best that
:21:16. > :21:19.night, but there are still... I think everyone involved was badly
:21:20. > :21:24.affected and it will stay with all of us probably for the rest of our
:21:25. > :21:27.lives. The day after the events showed the full scale of what
:21:28. > :21:32.happened on that short but very deadly journey. So close to the
:21:33. > :21:37.accident sets of primary school with more than 400 pupils. Thankfully, on
:21:38. > :21:42.that day most of those pupils had already gone home, but some were in
:21:43. > :21:46.an after-school club. That is where Mitzi and her granny were heading to
:21:47. > :21:50.pick up her siblings. Those pupils were cared for by staff for hours as
:21:51. > :21:56.the emergency services dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy. To
:21:57. > :22:00.begin with, flowers for the Vic Timms work laid outside the school
:22:01. > :22:05.walls. Although in total shock and disbelief. Little Mitzi was
:22:06. > :22:08.well-known to everyone. The Coast community of Western was stunned and
:22:09. > :22:13.both churches opened the next day. The place as the church at the
:22:14. > :22:17.bottom of Lansdown Lane to receive the mounting number of flowers, a
:22:18. > :22:21.place away from the busy road and the safer place to pay respects and
:22:22. > :22:27.grief. People brought the flowers for weeks, wanting to make a
:22:28. > :22:31.tribute. I was here when the people came from South Wales to bring the
:22:32. > :22:35.floral tributes to the family for those people who had died in the
:22:36. > :22:40.family. I don't think people could really believe it had happened here
:22:41. > :22:44.in Western, something so dreadful. But having said that, there had been
:22:45. > :22:50.a lot of concern about the heavy traffic using Lansdown Lane, so to
:22:51. > :22:54.imagine that it it happens in our village was awful. Two years on and
:22:55. > :22:59.life is moving on in Western. A memorial play area has been built at
:23:00. > :23:02.the school in the Mitzi's name and toddlers groups, societies,
:23:03. > :23:06.gardening clubs, are all getting on with daily life in the busy
:23:07. > :23:13.community, but it has not been easy. It was extremely sad, but also
:23:14. > :23:21.horrendously traumatic and I think that is why it will leave its mark
:23:22. > :23:28.for a very long time. Everybody... The schoolchildren are very young.
:23:29. > :23:33.It is not something you can spent a long time dwelling on comic you have
:23:34. > :23:36.to move on. No one will ever forget what happened here, but all those
:23:37. > :23:39.who can are now trying to look to the future.
:23:40. > :23:48.Despite this horrendous accident, nothing seems to have been done
:23:49. > :23:53.about the volume of traffic and the speed at which the vehicles go. It
:23:54. > :23:56.is a 20 mile an hour zone. We understand that Mitzi's that has
:23:57. > :24:00.been discussions with the council and tomorrow night will be -- we
:24:01. > :24:06.will be talking to parents who are determined that things will change.
:24:07. > :24:09.In the meantime, all thoughts go to the families who are now spending
:24:10. > :24:16.the second Christmas without loved ones.
:24:17. > :24:19.Now with a look at the weather and what it could be
:24:20. > :24:35.Good evening, everybody. Let's take you through the forecast for
:24:36. > :24:40.tomorrow which will be the arm under the influence of storm Barbara. It
:24:41. > :24:43.is going to be the north-western parts of the British Isles that will
:24:44. > :24:48.bear the brunt of this. Its influence down he will be felt in
:24:49. > :24:52.terms of an increasingly windy day. It will be wet in the afternoon, as
:24:53. > :24:57.well. Here are five things are shaping up, I week weather front
:24:58. > :25:04.keeping things drive. In the north-west you can see storm Barbara
:25:05. > :25:08.forming. For us, as this call from runs through June the afternoon that
:25:09. > :25:14.will usher in a wet spell of weather. That is where we will see
:25:15. > :25:19.the peak of the winds. For the rest of this evening, the few showers
:25:20. > :25:24.will die out. A fairly quiet night, initially the wind is fairly light,
:25:25. > :25:28.turning chilly under those conditions. By daybreak the breeze
:25:29. > :25:34.is starting to pick up. The coldest days of the night, we could get a
:25:35. > :25:39.hint of frost trying to form, maybe the odd patch of Bob. That will not
:25:40. > :25:42.be the case by tomorrow morning with the wind is already starting to pick
:25:43. > :25:48.up. A lot of dry weather to the first part of the day. The Black
:25:49. > :25:54.Arrow showed that wind gusts in miles an hour. The gusts could get
:25:55. > :25:58.up to 60 miles an hour. Difficult driving conditions. It will remain
:25:59. > :26:08.-- remain breezy in the evening, turning colder. Let's fast forward a
:26:09. > :26:15.cross into Christmas Eve. It is looking a genuinely Friday. It will
:26:16. > :26:19.remain breezy yet not rather windy, and that will feel that bit chillier
:26:20. > :26:23.as well with the change in the air mass. Up towards the north-west,
:26:24. > :26:27.signs of another storm developing overnight and into Christmas
:26:28. > :26:32.morning. Again, it will be the far northern parts of the British Isles
:26:33. > :26:35.most influenced. The net result for us heading into Christmas Day will
:26:36. > :26:36.be initially at fairly mild tablecloths applied around the
:26:37. > :26:45.Brazilian rain, breezy or a windy. Tomorrow, we'll be back at 6.30pm
:26:46. > :26:48.with some festive fun as it's our last long programme
:26:49. > :26:51.before Christmas and this year. Tonight though - as we have done
:26:52. > :26:54.every night this week - we'll leave you to enjoy another
:26:55. > :26:55.carol. This evening it's the Rising
:26:56. > :26:57.Voices Recovery Choir performing 'Silent Night'
:26:58. > :27:11.in the Bristol Unitarian Church. Silent night.
:27:12. > :27:23.Holy night. All is calm.
:27:24. > :27:34.All is bright. Round the virgin, mother and child.
:27:35. > :27:41.Holy infant, so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace.
:27:42. > :27:47.Sleep in the heavenly peace.