Lorry driver who caused fatal crash while “heavily distracted” by porn on his phone, jailed for ten years
Police found that Neil Platt, 43 of Bootle, Merseyside, had been checking his phone regularly during a three-hour journey on May 17, 2024, which saw him travel from Dumfries, Scotland to the M58 via the M6. Platt's truck slammed into the back of Danny Aitchison's Hyundai Kona car, which had come to a halt at the back of a queue of stationary traffic near junction four. The impact pushed Aitchison's car into a tanker.
The car exploded into flames on impact. An investigation revealed that Platt had been "heavily distracted" by his mobile phone at the time, after pornographic images of naked women appeared on his X feed. He failed to notice the stationary traffic, only applying his brakes 35 metres away from Mr Aitchison's car and 1.5 second before the impact.
The case was heard in Preston Crown Court last week (19 September). Judge Ian Unsworth KC, told Platt: "Your arrogant and selfish attitude to driving was quite breathtaking. "You willingly and without any excuse chose to ignore the laws of the road.
This was not a one-off glance on your phone... you were looking at such things as X, TikTok and YouTube. "The collision that occurred could have happened anywhere along that journey. The blunt reality is you travelled well over 100 miles in what was sometimes a highly distracted state.
In short, you were a multi-tonne accident waiting to happen." Platt previously pleaded guilty to causing the death of Mr Aitchison. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Judge Unsworth said while there was no suggestion Platt had been actively searching for pornographic images while scrolling on his phone, he had "prioritised looking at social media" ahead of the safety and welfare of other road users. He added: "You were distracted by doing something so mindblowingly stupid. You were not paying attention to what was ahead but you were paying attention to your phone.
"It beggars belief that while in charge of that muli-tonne vehicle you were looking at social media and scrolling X in which some of the content was pornographic in nature." Stephen McNally, defending, described his client as "family-orientated" and "genuinely remorseful" over the fatal collision. He said: "Even though the defendant's mobile phone was in a cradle and in front of him, this case provides an object lesson in demonstrating that even for the most experienced of drivers, not giving the road your undivided attention and concentration can have the most devastating consequences."
Aitchison was father to 17-year-old daughter Ella and 10-year-old son Jack. His partner Kerry told the court that she was speaking to him on the phone at the time of the crash and believed that his battery had run out of charge when the call ended. She said: "I feel angry he has lost his life in such a way.
He was just coming home to me and the kids.
Their hero has gone."