Bury tanker driver caused motorist serious injuries in M56 crash

Peter Gibbons, from Bury, was behind the wheel of a heavy goods vehicle and drove in a dangerous manner, colliding with two other vehicles. The 41-year-old was subsequently charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and fail to comply with a notice to disclose the key to protected information. He was due to stand trial at Chester Crown Court but changed his plea to the driving charge from not guilty to guilty, with the failure to disclose charge to lie on his file.

The court proceeded to pass sentence, with prosecutor Simon Mintz informing the court how the incident occurred on April 11, 2022, at around 5.45pm. It involved a tanker, a HGV and a Ford Transit van on the westbound carriageway near to junction 10 at Stretton. Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service dispatched five engines to the scene, as well as its major rescue unit.

A 38-year-old man from Clock Face in St Helens, the van driver, was cut from his vehicle by firefighters. He suffered serious injuries in the crash and was rushed to Aintree Hospital by an air ambulance, with the motorway closed for a number of hours. These were a spinal fracture, seven fractured ribs and associated pulmonary contusions.

The driver of the HGV, a 54-year-old man from Belper, Derbyshire, was uninjured. Cheshire Police launched an appeal for witnesses and video footage following the serious collision. Gibbons, the driver of the tanker, was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The defendant was also taken to hospital as a precaution but was later discharged. The disclosure charge alleged that Gibbons, on April 11 at Aintree Hospital, failed to disclose the passcode to an iPhone when required. Considering the case, recorder Michael Hayton deemed the offences serious enough that only a custodial sentence could be justified.

However, he was persuaded by Keith Jones, mitigating on behalf of the defendant, to suspend the sentence of incarceration. Gibbons, of Parkinson Street, Bury, was sentenced to two years in prison suspended for two years. He was also handed an obligatory disqualification from driving for two years and must pass an extended retest before getting behind the wheel again.

In addition, the defendant was told he must pay a fine of GBP1,000, costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of GBP750 and a statutory victim surcharge of GBP156.