A DRIVER who crashed his van at high speed into a car queueing on an M32 slip road, killing another man, has avoided a jail sentence.
Jamie Nicholls told police he was looking for a cigarette and his attention was off the road “for a second or two” before he crashed into Michael Stone’s car, killing the 68-year-old father-of-two from Longwell Green.
Mr Stone’s car was pushed into the car in front, causing further collisions involving a fourth and fifth vehicle on the southbound Junction 1 exit slip road for the A4174 at Hambrook, in August 2024.
A work colleague of Mr Stone, who was a passenger in his car, suffered “significant physical injuries” including a head injury and seven broken ribs.
Nicholls and another driver also needed hospital treatment.
Nicholls, aged 48, pleaded guilty to charges of causing death and serious injury by careless driving earlier this year.
He was spared a prison sentence, instead being given a 14-month suspended for sentence and one-year driving ban.
Nicholls, of Otterhampton, near Bridgwater, was told he must take an extended test before he can get his licence back, abide by a 60-day curfew and undergo 10 days of rehabilitation, as well as paying a victim surcharge and costs, when he was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court last Thursday.
‘My heart is truly broken’
In a statement read to the court Mr Stone’s widow, Penny, said she had had to break the news that her husband of 40 years had been killed to one of their two daughters who was in America on her honeymoon at the time.
She said: “Mike was the foundation on which our family was built.
“When we gather around the table now there is an empty space where he should be sat, head of the family. You knew you were safe when Mike was around and everything would be alright.
“I have lost my husband, my best friend, the father of my children, my rock, the person who rubbed my back when it ached, made my morning cuppa, laughed with me, wiped away my tears, danced with me, loved me.
“My heart is truly broken, and I miss him so much it physically hurts. All I have left of him are my memories and that shouldn’t be.
“Our daughters have lost an amazing dad who would do anything for them however old they were.
“I never got the chance to say goodbye to Mike on that fateful day. I waved him off to work and the next time I saw him was 11 days later in the mortuary.”
She told Nicholls: “The actions you took on that day when you got in your van have changed everyone in our families’ lives forever.
“But, more importantly, Mike was denied the right to live his life because of you.”
‘Failure to concentrate’
After the case, police investigating officer Noelie Poupard said: “This was a collision caused by Nicholls’ failure to concentrate on the road ahead of him.
“A motorist looking away from the road, even for a second, will cover quite a significant distance when they are travelling 70mph and the consequences can be horrendous, as this case painfully demonstrates.
“Poor concentration at the wheel is one of the fatal five reasons behind collisions and it is entirely avoidable.
“Our thoughts and sympathies go out to Michael Stone’s devastated family.
“It’s impossible not to be moved by Penny’s heartbreaking words. We sincerely hope drivers take onboard her comments and understand the importance of driving safely, because doing so will help to prevent other families suffering the same heartache.”