Lorry driver sentenced over deaths of elderly Shropshire couple

Luke Smith, 33, was said to have had a "momentary inattention" to the speed of his articulated lorry after leaving the M54.

The crash happened when the defendant's Volvo lorry struck a silver Renault that was turning right onto the A41 towards the motorway.

The accident resulted in the deaths of 82-year-old Dennis Bennett and his 84-year-old wife, Mavis, from Albrighton.

Mr Bennett, an ex-Royal Navy petty officer, and his wife, who had lived at Weston Road, Albrighton, for 35 years, had been to the shops when they died.

The couple were former licensees of the Molineux Hotel in Wolverhampton and managers of Star News in Albrighton.

Next door neighbour Christopher Sutton said at the time of their deaths: "They were a loving couple who kept themselves to themselves and were always very close.

"You would normally find Dennis out in the garden or tending to his flowers in the greenhouse."

Mr Sutton's wife, Eileen, said Mrs and Mrs Bennett ran the newsagents in Albrighton High Street for a number of years.

"It has really upset everyone around here because they were so well known and well liked," she said.

"As well as running the newsagents, Mavis worked in The Crown in Albrighton High Street for a few years after she retired.

"They were fixtures in the village for many years, the people you would always see around."

It happened close to Stanton Road, Tong, on October 25, 2013.

The national speed limit on that stretch of the A41 is 60mph, but is only 40mph for the size and weight of the type of vehicle Smith was driving.

Smith, a driver and transport manager for a Telford company, was given a 28-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting death by careless driving.

Judge Robin Onions said that Smith, a father of two, was a man of positive good character and according to witnesses, apart from the speed of the lorry, had been driving correctly before the tragedy.

He said that the speed of Smith's lorry - just under 50mph - was not the primary cause of the accident, but was a factor because he was above the required limit and an aggravating feature was the death of the two pensioners.

Judge Onions said accident reports showed that Mr Bennett had made a bad mistake in pulling out into the path of the Volvo lorry.

"Tragically Mr Bennett must have failed to see the vehicle and had been pulling out slowly," he said.

Smith, of Priory Way, St Georges, Telford, was also banned from driving for a year, ordered to complete 250 hours unpaid work and must pay £750 costs.

Neighbours of Mr and Mrs Bennett described them as "very close".

Their links with shops and pubs in their home town made them very well known and well liked by all.

It was revealed that Smith's brother had died in a motorcycle accident on the same stretch of road a number of years ago.

Daniel White, defending, told the court that Smith's remorse was genuine and he had some insight into how the Bennett family felt because of the loss of his brother.

He said the defendant and was sorry for the consequences of his driving and apologised to the court.

The conclusion of the case comes almost two years after the accident in October 2013.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that a trial had initially started in December last year but was halted because of legal issues over the reliability of the vehicle tachograph readings.

Following expert analysis prior to a re-trial, Smith pleaded guilty on the basis that his speed did not exceed 49 mph.

Judge Onions praised Smith's "good character" but said that the accident had tragic consequences.