Girl, 8, left unable to talk or walk as family of four hurt in horror crash

A lorry driver who seriously injured a little girl and two members of her family when he hit their car on the hard shoulder has been jailed. The youngster, now aged 10, from Stafford ^[1], has been left unable to walk or talk and will need a carer for the rest of her life following the collision.

Warwick Crown Court ^[2] heard Dominic Nicholls, 53, crashed into the back of their Nissan X-Trail which had broken down on the M42 in Warwickshire, in April 2022. He has now been jailed for 30 months.

PC Craig Pearson, of Warwickshire Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said the lives of the Stafford family had been ‘devastated by what happened that day’. The family were returning to Staffordshire from Heathrow Airport after a holiday in Sri Lanka when the crash happened on the northbound carriageway at 11.56pm on April 28 last year.

A warning light had appeared on their car’s dashboard and they pulled over between junctions eight and nine, near Kingsbury, to investigate the issue. In the vehicle was a family of four including the eight-year-old daughter and five-year-old son.

READ: Armed police in stand-off with man who forced way inside terrified family’s home and set it alight ^[3] The occupiers of the home are now being offered support

READ:Passengers stranded at Stoke Station as train service branded ‘truly unacceptable’^[4] Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Jo Gideon was not happy with Avanti after her train to London was cancelled

Nicholls was about a minute behind and ‘for reasons unknown, the lorry drifted on to the hard shoulder at 55mph and collided with the rear of the X-Trail before the family had time to exit the vehicle’.

The girl, was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital with life-threatening injuries. She survived, but will need life-long care, after being left unable to think, talk or walk again and will have to use a wheelchair. Her mother and father were also seriously hurt and their son sustained minor injuries.

PC Pearson said Nicholls had ‘never provided an explanation’ why his HGV travelled directly on to the hard shoulder. He added: “The dashcam footage from the HGV shows that Mr Nicholls makes no attempt to brake or take avoiding action prior to the collision, he said. This is a very sad and tragic case.”

Nicholls, of Inkerman Terrace, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to three counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury at a previous hearing.

At the sentencing hearing on October 19, Nicholls was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for seven years and will have to pass an extended test to drive again. He was also ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the case, PC Pearson said “This is a very sad and tragic case. Mr Nicholls has never provided an explanation for why he allowed his HGV to travel directly onto the hard shoulder towards the family’s X-Trail car, the overall responsibility for the speed and control of the vehicle must lay entirely within the hands of its driver – Dominic Nicholls. The dash cam footage from the HGV shows that Mr Nicholls makes no attempt to brake or take avoiding action prior to the collision.

“The standard of driving falls far below that expected of a careful and competent driver. We hope this sentence brings some comfort to the family whose lives have been devastated by what happened that day.”

References

^{^} Stafford (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Warwick Crown Court (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Armed police in stand-off with man who forced way inside terrified family’s home and set it alight (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^{^} Passengers stranded at Stoke Station as train service branded ‘truly unacceptable’ (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
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