Killer driver jailed for second time for same crash
BBCA lorry driver who was previously imprisoned for "catastrophically" injuring a man in a crash has been jailed again after the victim died.
Kevin Hubbard, 67, crashed into the back of Keith Jameson's van on the A19 in Sunderland in November 2014 after the victim's vehicle broke down, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
Jameson was left completely paralysed from the neck down and died aged 71 in April 2024 "after nearly 10 years of suffering", his family said.
Hubbard was jailed for 20 months after he admitted causing death by dangerous driving. He had previously been jailed for two years in 2016 after being found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Jameson was trying to repair his broken van in the nearside lane of the A19 when Hubbard's lorry ploughed into the back of it at about 10:00 GMT on 5 November 2014, prosecutor Jolyon Perks said.
The court heard Jameson, a roofer, was on his way back from a builders' merchants while Hubbard was making a delivery to Leicester.
The victim suffered "permanent, life-changing and catastrophic" injuries, including a spinal fracture which left him paralysed from the neck down and relying on a ventilator to keep him alive, the court heard.
The court was told he spent almost two years in hospital in Newcastle, Middlesbrough and County Durham before being allowed to move home with 24-hour care.
He developed numerous infections, one of which led to his death on 16 April 2024, the court was told.
'Trapped inside body'
In a statement read to the court, Jameson's daughter said his survival was an "absolute blessing" but he had eventually died "after nearly 10 years of suffering".
The "cruellest part", she said, was that his "mind was completely intact".
She said he could remember how his life had been before he became "trapped inside a body which would not respond to him.
"He lived with constant fear, pain and discomfort, with every day agony and every basic human task needing to be done for him."
Hubbard was "driving dangerously" and the crash "could have been avoided", she said.
"It felt like my dad had been given a life sentence even though he was the victim."
In mitigation, Christopher Knox said Hubbard's previous jail term had been "life-changing" and he had "regretted and relived the crash every day since".
Hubbard had already "been punished" in 2016 and had "very much taken that punishment on board", Knox said.
Judge Tim Gittins said Jameson's van should have been visible to Hubbard for about 1,115ft (340m) but the lorry driver did not brake until the "last moment", less than a second before he hit it.
"It is clear you should have seen it at a much earlier point - at a point when the collision could have been avoided," the judge told Hubbard.
The judge said Hubbard had claimed he did not see the van because of "glare" off the road but it was "more likely" the driver, who had held an HGV licence for 29 years, had "just switched off".
Life 'shattered'
The judge said Jameson was "clearly a much-loved man" who had been "living life to the full" before he was injured.
He said Hubbard, from Sunderland, had been of good character with an "unblemished driving record" and had served his country "with credit" in the military before becoming a lorry driver.
Due to less than "10 seconds of inattention" by Hubbard, Jameson's life was "shattered," the judge said.
Had Hubbard been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving by a jury, he would have been jailed for five and a half years, the judge said.
That was reduced to 20 months due to a discount for his early guilty plea and to reflect the two years already served, the court heard.
A driving ban was also not imposed as Hubbard had previously complied with a three-year disqualification and passed an extended test.
