27/01/2017 Points West

A court heard today about the chaos inside a transport company,

responsible for the runaway truck in Bath that killed four people.

The man who ran the company and his mechanic were

The judge said they'd shown a cavalier attitude

to maintaining their vehicles as Imogen Sellers reports.

February 9th 2015, and a crash that changed the lives of so many.

But today, Bristol Crown Court heard how it all could

A 32-ton truck careered down Landsdown Lane

Three men from Wales and four-year-old Mitzi Steady

Today in court, the judge said the brakes on the truck,

owned by Matthew Gordon, were so poorly maintained

And that the lives of the four victims were lost due a bodged

As a company owner, Matthew Gordon had no transport manager and was

responsible for safety. His mechanic signed off vehicles are safe when

clearly they were not. This subsequent loss of life and

long-standing effect on the community were totally foreseeable

and also avoidable. Emma-Jade the mother of Mitzi Steady

told the court of the heartbreak She spoke of the devastation

that their bright beautiful, vibrant, outgoing little girl

will never have her She will never learn to read or have

best friends to giggle and play with.

Philip Potter, who was driving the lorry, was also a victim

of Matthew Gordon's cavalier approach to safety.

In sentencing, the judge said the lorry was so dangerous it never

should have been on the road in that day in February. He said, you have a

history of cutting corners with a reckless disregard for the

consequences. It was highly foreseeable that death or serious

injury would occur. That was the culture of your business. In

sentencing the mechanic, Peter Wood, he said that he had a cavalier

approach to safety. Matthew Goode was sentenced to seven and a half

years in prison. Finally, the families can get on with grieving

knowing that the men responsible for this tragedy are behind bars. The

judge said that Matthew Gordon wasn't concerned for the public but

only himself. So, what is being done to stop other companies cutting

corners in a similar way? Scott Ellis has been out with the safety

patrols. This is one way to make

sure HGV's are safe, The operators when they sign up sign

to say they will keep their vehicles in a fit and serviceable position,

and if we want to send a message to those who don't, we are here and we

will target them. The DVSA keep tabs on hauliers,

using data such as MOT failures. That information's used by officers

as they patrol our motorways. Along the M4, there are cameras

spotting number though the patrol knows which lorries are coming down

the road towards them. They can quickly check who is operating that

lorry and if it is somebody who's got a poor track record of

maintenance they are more likely to be hold in. -- pulled in.

Across the UK, the DVSA checks 220,000 lorries

One in three fails some aspect of the mechanical test.

The Road Haulage Association wants more enforcement like this.

And it wants new operators blitzed with an audit

within six months of start up, saying that would have stopped

The complete ignorance of the rules and the disregard for the safety

rules would have been known about. It would have been reported to the

traffic Commissioner who would then could have potentially taken action

against them by removing their license or forcing them to take

action to remedy the issues. Truck drivers we spoke to hope

the Bath tragedy will send out But the reputable drivers worry

corners will still be cut. People are undercutting each other

all the time. And it is just the pressure on these companies to make

money. It can cost a thousand pounds

a month to maintain a truck. The message is profit

cannot come before safety. The judge saying today

Grittenham Haulage had a cavalier And this 32-ton tipper truck had

"truly serious faults" that Police are setting up a mobile

station outside Motion nightclub in Bristol tonight where

Deakon Wilkins was last seen The 24-year-old from

Weston-super-Mare remains missing despite police searches of nearby

land and river. Officers will speak to people

as they arrive at the club tonight in the hope

of getting new information. In tonight's rugby, Bath faced

Gloucester at home and it The visitors converted a try

on 20 minutes which gave them a seven point lead,

but Bath went ahead with four penalties and then scored

this try on 74 minutes. Gloucester hit back a few minutes

later crossing the line So rugby tonight and

football tomorrow. We'll have those results

when we're back at teatime. For now though- I'll wish

you a lovely weekend A marked change to the weather. An

unsettled flavour to things. With the overnight rain clearing away

during the course of Saturday, there will be a dry and brighter phase.

Sunday will be mild. Temperatures broadly within the range of 3-6 C.

Rather fragmentary in some of that pattern, the rain. As that clears

away, drier, brighter conditions but as we get further into the

afternoon, more showers heading towards the West. Heavy, thundery

and some quite gusty winds. Temperatures nine Celsius, and it

may Good evening. Not many would argue

that January hasn't been dry, but today, many of us had our first

significant rain for some time, because the transition is on from

cold, Continental dry air to milder Atlantic air, but the transition is

a slow one. So we have had ice today, and freezing fog, in northern

England. We had a little sunshine as well in Norfolk, but we still have

the cold air around and about in the north. All this rain you can see,

which is giving is a wet day in some areas, 10-15 millimetres of rain has

fallen, as it comes north there could be some winter it issues. Snow

already falling over Scotland, possibly over northern England,

possibly some sleet over lower areas and fog. Not