:00:10. > :00:15.The verdict in the trial of a deadly crash -
:00:16. > :00:18.the driver of the truck that killed four people is cleared.
:00:19. > :00:21.Two others are guilty of manslaughter.
:00:22. > :00:24.We'll ask if there are other companies operating on the roads
:00:25. > :00:35.A haulage boss and a mechanic from Wiltshire are facing long
:00:36. > :00:37.prison sentences after a runaway tipper-truck crashed in Bath,
:00:38. > :00:43.Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood were both found guilty of manslaughter
:00:44. > :00:49.But the young driver of the truck, Phillip Potter, broke down in tears
:00:50. > :00:57.Our Bath reporter, Ali Vowles, has been following the case.
:00:58. > :00:59.Tonight, I'm at the bottom of Lansdown Lane looking up
:01:00. > :01:02.at where the accident happened, just yards from Bath
:01:03. > :01:04.and North-East Somerset's largest primary school.
:01:05. > :01:09.The owner of Grittenham Haulage, Matthew Gordon, was driving a truck.
:01:10. > :01:14.He was followed by his new driver, 19-year-old Philip Potter,
:01:15. > :01:16.who at the time, of course, did not know that he was
:01:17. > :01:22.As he was coming down the steep Lansdown Lane his brakes failed.
:01:23. > :01:26.He hit and killed four-year-old Mitzi Steady, then struck a car
:01:27. > :01:29.killing chauffeur Steve Vaughan and his passengers,
:01:30. > :01:34.Today, Mitzi's family have said nothing can bring their daughter
:01:35. > :01:38.back and they will miss every day for the rest of their lives.
:01:39. > :01:42.They added that this verdict sends a clear message that
:01:43. > :01:46.when noncompliance results in injury or death, excuses and lies will not
:01:47. > :01:49.stand in court and serve only to cause further upset
:01:50. > :01:55.The widow of Steve Vaughan has spoken of her absolute devastation
:01:56. > :02:01.of losing her husband just six months after they were married.
:02:02. > :02:06.I think a spark has definitely gone out in my heart,
:02:07. > :02:19.Gordon and Wood were today refused bail and remanded in custody.
:02:20. > :02:25.They will receive their sentence on 27th January.
:02:26. > :02:30.The man driving the truck that night was Philip Potter,
:02:31. > :02:32.a 19-year-old farmer's son from Wiltshire.
:02:33. > :02:37.But today he was acquitted - the jury decided he was the victim
:02:38. > :02:43.He spoke exclusively to our Social Affairs
:02:44. > :02:49.The hardest bit is when you go to sleep, is just seeing the carnage
:02:50. > :02:53.unfolding in your head when it happened.
:02:54. > :02:56.It's like you press replay in your head every night
:02:57. > :03:01.you go to close your eyes and you just see it.
:03:02. > :03:04.Walking free from court today, the driver of the tipper-truck,
:03:05. > :03:06.Philip Potter, broke down in tears after being cleared
:03:07. > :03:14.It was just under two years ago that his life was to change forever.
:03:15. > :03:16.The 19-year-old worked on his family's farm.
:03:17. > :03:20.To earn extra money, he had taken an apprenticeship
:03:21. > :03:22.with this distant cousin Matthew Gordon at
:03:23. > :03:27.He was only days into the job when he climbed into the truck
:03:28. > :03:31.and followed his new boss out of yard.
:03:32. > :03:36.I could see that we were coming into a 20 so I applied
:03:37. > :03:38.the brakes a little bit more and there was just nothing.
:03:39. > :03:42.It was holding, but it wouldn't slow down any more.
:03:43. > :03:46.I slammed it into a lower gear and tried the handbrake - nothing.
:03:47. > :03:49.I just held my hand on the horn and just locked my arms solid
:03:50. > :03:55.because I didn't know what else I could possibly try and do.
:03:56. > :03:57.I just wanted to warn people that there was a lorry
:03:58. > :04:05.By the time he managed to stop the truck, four people were dead.
:04:06. > :04:08.Philip Potter was taken to hospital, where his mother confirmed to him
:04:09. > :04:14.Do you remember when they told you that Philip had been driving
:04:15. > :04:19.He was in a hell of a state and they told me then
:04:20. > :04:22.that there were fatalities before I went in to see him and he said,
:04:23. > :04:30.Do you think about those people who died?
:04:31. > :04:35.We had trees planted on the anniversary
:04:36. > :04:50.We had the vicar in to bless them because we thought
:04:51. > :04:58.Four young trees to mark the four lives lost.
:04:59. > :05:03.This one is for Mitzi because when it's blooming it comes out pink.
:05:04. > :05:06.It's always going to be here for the rest of my life.
:05:07. > :05:09.It might just be me that might know about them,
:05:10. > :05:13.but in my heart I know what they are there for.
:05:14. > :05:16.A quiet minute, come up and just think about
:05:17. > :05:24.Yeah, in a way because if I hadn't have been in the lorry then it
:05:25. > :05:31.wouldn't have been me, but it could have happened to any
:05:32. > :05:37.driver that was in it because of this state of the lorry.
:05:38. > :05:40.Philip Potter says he will never forget those terrible
:05:41. > :05:46.He knows that he can never rewind the clock,
:05:47. > :05:49.but after today's verdict clearing him from any crime,
:05:50. > :05:57.30-year-old Matthew Gordon was Philip Potter's boss.
:05:58. > :06:00.After the crash, Gordon, admitted eight offences of exceeding
:06:01. > :06:03.driving hours in the three months before the accident.
:06:04. > :06:07.His company pleaded guilty to 33 similar offences.
:06:08. > :06:11.Last September, the Traffic Commissioner disqualified him
:06:12. > :06:14.and took away his operating licence for two years.
:06:15. > :06:17.Scott Ellis reports on the lorry boss and the mechanic
:06:18. > :06:20.who are tonight awaiting a prison sentence.
:06:21. > :06:24.As this tragedy unfolded, Matthew Gordon knew he was guilty.
:06:25. > :06:28.Deciding amid the loss of life not to call the emergency services
:06:29. > :06:32.or admit to a police officer he owned the overturned truck
:06:33. > :06:36.and telling the injured driver not to mention a brake warning light
:06:37. > :06:41.was on, before disappearing back to his lorry yard.
:06:42. > :06:43.Grittenham Haulage was based here on White's Farm,
:06:44. > :06:46.near Brinkworth in Wiltshire in that green building.
:06:47. > :06:49.It was the first time Matthew Gordon had run a company and in court
:06:50. > :06:52.we learned it was a shambles from start to finish,
:06:53. > :06:57.a company that had no grip on how to maintain a fleet of lorries.
:06:58. > :07:00.The jury were shown photos of these bodged brake repairs
:07:01. > :07:05.Gordon said he didn't cut corners when it came to maintenance.
:07:06. > :07:11.The jury, and this Wiltshire HGV instructor, think otherwise.
:07:12. > :07:19.It could cost you up to about ?1,000 per truck per month and just simply
:07:20. > :07:21.by not doing maintenance properly you cut those costs.
:07:22. > :07:26.This driver worked for Gordon and says he rushed drivers to get
:07:27. > :07:31.When I did work for him it was, like, I've got to get here,
:07:32. > :07:38.Mattthew Gordon's mechanic, Peter Wood, here on the left,
:07:39. > :07:43.He recorded no defects on the lorry's brakes
:07:44. > :07:49.when he inspected it just a few weeks before the crash.
:07:50. > :07:53.The Freight Transport Association represents hauliers.
:07:54. > :07:55.I asked James Hookham from the organisation if the rules
:07:56. > :07:59.on lorry safety in the UK were tight enough.
:08:00. > :08:03.Well, the British operating licence system is one of the longest
:08:04. > :08:06.established and one of the most demanding standards for goods
:08:07. > :08:09.vehicle operation in the whole of Europe and, in our experience,
:08:10. > :08:16.So it does send rather a big alarm bell to the industry, then.
:08:17. > :08:20.I think it will remind responsible operators that these standards
:08:21. > :08:24.are taken very seriously and I don't think we should underestimate
:08:25. > :08:27.the severity of the verdicts that were brought in.
:08:28. > :08:31.They are verdicts for manslaughter, which are some of most serious
:08:32. > :08:33.charges that can be brought against an individual
:08:34. > :08:38.So this isn't just a technical breach of the regulations,
:08:39. > :08:41.this is only a few degrees short of murder.
:08:42. > :08:44.So these are very serious charges that these individuals have
:08:45. > :08:49.Would you say there are other operators
:08:50. > :08:54.Well, if there are, I hope they are feeling very uncomfortable
:08:55. > :08:58.by the verdicts of the court and that they take immediate steps
:08:59. > :09:01.to address and review what they are doing to ensure
:09:02. > :09:03.that they do meet the standards that are required of them.
:09:04. > :09:07.It comes down to the individual responsibility of those granted
:09:08. > :09:10.a licence to actually do what they promised to do.
:09:11. > :09:16.I am sure that this will send an important and urgent reminder
:09:17. > :09:18.to all those involved in the industry that these standards
:09:19. > :09:27.are taken very seriously and must be adhered to.
:09:28. > :09:31.There are more of today's other stories on the BBC News website
:09:32. > :09:34.and on your local BBC Radio stations where you are.
:09:35. > :09:38.For now, I'll say goodnight and leave you with Ian,
:09:39. > :10:06.Tomorrow will be turning a windy day and it will have a wet phase as well
:10:07. > :10:11.as forgetting to the afternoon. Prior to that that should be a lot
:10:12. > :10:14.of dry weather about and it should be comparatively mild, despite
:10:15. > :10:20.turning increasingly windy. For the rest of the night temperatures
:10:21. > :10:24.dropping down to between one and three Celsius. The wind will pick
:10:25. > :10:29.up. Prior to then we could get that touch of frost trying to form. Some
:10:30. > :10:34.fog has been trying to form ready. At first light tomorrow, dry start
:10:35. > :10:39.with the wind will be a feature. The black arrows are the gusts of wind,
:10:40. > :10:44.and it will be dry through the morning. There is a yellow warning
:10:45. > :10:49.from the Met office tomorrow for the squally winds. They could touch 50
:10:50. > :10:54.were 60 mph. After that we will start to see the skies clearing
:10:55. > :10:59.through the evening. Bar 12 showers, it will be dry. Temperatures getting
:11:00. > :11:02.up the side tomorrow as 11 Celsius. It will turn chilly as we head into
:11:03. > :11:04.Christmas itself, it's not white, but it's
:11:05. > :11:05.warm. Temperatures could reach