A lorry driver has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison for causing the death of a 29-year-old woman in Altrincham.
William Stewart, 25, was jailed at Preston Crown Court this morning after being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving by a jury last month. He was also banned from driving for five years following his release.
Stewart failed to secure a metal stabiliser on his Ford Iveco lorry, which subsequently killed Natalie Thorpe, a 29-year-old Urmston resident who worked at Elite Dress Agency on Market Street.
Thorpe, the mother of a 12-year-old son, had been stood at a pedestrian crossing on Dunham Road when she was hit.
During sentencing, Judge Lloyd told Stewart: “It was not rocket science or a particularly difficult set of actions you had to take to stabilise that arm.
“This was no oversight, this was no mechanical failure, you quite simply ignored the training you had received over two courses.
“Had you made the most cursory visual checks or pulled on the arm you would have realised that the arm was not secure.”
Members of Stewart’s family were heard to gasp as the guilty verdicts were returned.
Judge Lloyd added: “I am sure that you normally an honest and likeable young man, but what became clear to me during the trial you were wholly unfit to hold any job which held such responsibility.
“The drivers of heavy lorries on public roads carry a heavy responsibility… the consequences of failure are far higher than driving a car.”
In a victim’s impact statement, Natalie Thorpe’s mother said learning of her daughter’s death was “the worst news I could possibly have”.
She said: “Our family’s hurt will go on for the rest of our lives. No sentence will bring Natalie – Lewis’s mother – back.”
