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Jail for driver who fell asleep and caused death crash
In Court
A DRIVER who caused a fatal head-on collision when he fell asleep at the wheel has been jailed for four years after being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.
Allan Worsman, who had slept for just five hours in the previous 48 hours, denied the charge but a jury at Lincoln Crown Court found him guilty on Tuesday 13th November.
Worsman, 60, of Apley Head Lodge, North Clumber Park, Worksop, was banned from driving for five years by Judge Michael Heath who told him: “The evidence in this case was overwhelming.”
The court heard how Worsman was travelling south along the A15 from his farm at Messingham near Scunthorpe on the evening of 19th August 2011.
He had been on his way to collect rent from a tenant in Lincoln, when his estate car began drifting across the road as he began to nod off.
Robert Underwood, prosecuting, told the jury that Worsman’s vehicle eventually went completely onto the wrong side of the road and collided with an oncoming car near to the Spridlington turn-off.
The other driver Richard Taylor, 77, of Ashby, Scunthorpe, suffered fatal injuries. He had been driving home after visiting his 98-year-old mother in Norfolk.
Mr Underwood said: “Mr Worsman did not brake. He did not deviate. He simply crashed into the front of the oncoming car. The reality is that he fell asleep at the wheel. Richard Taylor did not stand a chance.”
Worsman, who at the time was working night shifts in Manchester as well as running weekend car boot sales at Messingham, told the jury he did not feel tired despite his lack of sleep.
“Had I felt tired I wouldn’t have driven,” he said.
For more on this story see this week’s Worksop Guardian - out Friday 16th November.
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Saturday 25 May 2013
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