Lorry driver who killed off-duty police officer in crash is jailed

PC Tris Baker (pictured) died after Robert Harrison crashed into him. (Essex Police / SWNS)

A lorry driver who killed an off-duty police officer in a crash when he “dozed off” at the wheel has been jailed for seven years.

Robert Harrison, 38, hit PC Tris Baker’s Ford Fiesta while driving his lorry on the A1060 in Roxwell, near Chelmsford, in September 2021.

Harrison was travelling 55mph in the 40mph limit and failed to negotiate a bend, swerving into oncoming traffic and colliding with the 41-year-old officer’s car.

PC Baker, who was on his way home from picking up his 11-year-old stepdaughter from school, died from his “catastrophic” injuries at the scene.

Robert Harrison was jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court. (Getty)

Experts told a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court that even at his excessive speed, Harrison could have successfully managed the bend if he was more alert.

They said there was “nothing Mr Baker could have done” to avoid the crash.

Harrison, from Clacton, Essex denied causing death by dangerous driving but was convicted after a six-day trial. He was jailed for seven years at the same court on Thursday.

PC Baker’s stepdaughter, Lily, told the court: “My life was so perfect and then it was ripped away.

“I should have nice memories of dad collecting me from school but instead I have memories of watching Tris die on the school run.”

Peter Clark, prosecuting, said Harrison was lodging in Colchester at the time of the incident and his landlord had approached him with concerns about how tired he was in the weeks prior.

Mr Clark said getting behind the wheel while he was so fatigued was “a disaster waiting to happen”.

Judge Mary Loram KC said: “He was not only too tired to [drive] but it should have been blindingly obvious to him that he was.”

Anthony Rimmer, mitigating, said Harrison had struggled with his mental health for years “but he struggled on with work, which had been his solace.”

The barrister admitted fatigue had “played a part” in the crash.

Harrison was also disqualified from driving for eight-and-a-half years.