Lorry driver is jailed for motorway death of father from near Oswestry

Businessman Alan Clements, 47, suffered fatal injuries when his Ford Focus was hit by a Scania Artic driven by Julian James Ketcher on the M5 in Devon in December 2012.

His family, from Hengoed, have been waiting for more than two-and-a-half years for justice because Ketcher carried on denying he caused the accident, which happened near Cullompton, until the evidence against him became overwhelming.

Mr Clements' widow Nicola made a victim impact statement telling how she and children Matthew, 11, and Hayley, eight, have been devastated by the tragedy.

She said on the night of his death she thought he was home safely, only to discover it was a police officer who had come to break the news of the accident.

At an earlier hearing at Exeter Crown Court the judge heard Ketcher was distracted by his hands-free phone and failed to notice a line of stationary traffic until just two seconds before he ploughed into a line of cars at 52mph.

He claimed he closed his eyes while sneezing, but checks on his phone showed he had just ended a call to his accountant.

The 44-year-old only pleaded guilty earlier this month after police experts established he had been using his phone for most of the return journey.

Evidence presented to the court showed Ketcher, of Warwick, ignored matrix signs which imposed a 30mph limit and warned that traffic was moving to a single lane. He then hit the queuing cars.

Ketcher admitted causing the death by dangerous driving and was jailed for six years by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC, yesterday.

He told him: "It is not surprising this death has devastated Mr Clements' family. The tachograph suggests you were travelling at 52mph less than a second before the collision. It is significant that the mobile phone on your central console had made three calls to your accountant, the last ending 19 seconds before the impact and the audio file was active on the phone, as if you were about to make another call."

Mr Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said Mr Clements was returning home from a business trip to the West Country when he joined a line of traffic queuing up to pass an earlier accident.

His hazard lights were on and he was either not moving or going a crawling speed when his Ford Focus was hit from behind.

Mr Clements was killed, another driver seriously injured, and a third suffered a broken wrist in the five-vehicle pile-up.

Miss Elizabeth Lambert, defending, said Ketcher had been driving since 5.30am on the day of the accident and had just made his last delivery. She said he now accepted responsibility for the tragedy and wanted to pass on his regrets to Mr Clements' family.