HGV driver ‘distracted by porn’ killed dad-of-two in Lancashire

A HGV driver who killed a father-of-two while “heavily distracted” by pornography on his phone has been jailed for 10 years.

Neil Platt was scrolling through pictures of naked women on the social media app X seconds before his HGV smashed into a stationary Hyundai Kona car driven by Daniel Aitchison, forcing it into the back of a tanker, at 13:00 BST on 17 May 2024.

Mr Aitchison, 46, was killed instantly by the impact at junction four on the M58 motorway near Skelmersdale, Lancashire, before his car burst into flames.

At Preston Crown Court Platt, 43, of Bootle in Merseyside, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced earlier.

The court heard Platt was driving from Dumfries in Scotland back to Liverpool and had “persistantly viewed” content on his phone on apps including WhatsApp, X, YouTube and TikTok during the three-hour journey.

Lancashire Police said Platt was spoken to at the scene of the crash and told officers he had only touched his phone briefly to check his journey time.

He stuck to his story in his formal police interview and in a defence statement, before analysis of his phone and an in-cab camera showed him continually scrolling through his phone in holder attached to the dashboard.

Judge Ian Unsworth KC, sentencing, told Platt he was a “multi-tonne accident waiting to happen”.

“Your arrogant and selfish attitude to driving was quite breathtaking,” he said.

“You willingly and without any excuse chose to ignore the laws of the road.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Aitchison’s partner Kerry described the moment she was told he had been killed.

“I was in floods of tears and inconsolable,” she said.

“I can remember it was a nice sunny day, and I could hear the children playing in the garden.

“I continually thought, ‘I am going to walk into this house and change their lives forever’.

“Telling the kids is and always will be the hardest thing I will do in my lifetime.”

Their 17-year-old daughter Ella also penned a statement, describing her father as a “good man driven by family and a pure love of life”.

Addressing Platt, she said: “You didn’t mean to kill my dad, and all that died alongside him, but you must have known your actions could have killed someone.”

Mr Aitchison’s mother, Jeannette, told the court her son was a “family man, strong in body and mind”.

Speaking after the hearing, Det Sgt Matthew Davidson, of Lancashire Police, said: “I don’t doubt that Platt knew the devastation his actions could have caused.

“The dangers of using your phone whilst driving is so often spoken about, yet Platt recklessly ignored it. His selfish decision took the life of a father, partner, brother and son.”

Platt will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody and on his release will be banned from driving for seven years.

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