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Driver's jail term doubled
Page 14
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The Court of Appeal has doubled the sentence handed down to a
dozing driver. Jennifer Ball reports.
A TRUCK DRIVER who killed a woman after he fell asleep at the wheel has had his 18-month jail term doubled at London's Court of Appeal.
Russell Ellis was jailed at Bristol Crown Court last December after he pleaded guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of Emma Kelly.
Lawyers for the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, argued that the sentence was unduly lenient given the fact that Ellis was "sound asleep" at the time of the crash.
Lord Justice Gage, sitting with Justice Stanley Burnton and Justice Dobbs ruled that the trial judge had wrongly categorised Ellis in the "intermediate" group of culpability when he should have been in a "higher" level .
He said Ellis had been up since 8.30am on the day in question, having been awake texting his girlfriend until about 5am the same day.
Witnesses at the crash scene described Ellis as looking "dazed and sleepy".
"The offender must have known he was deprived of adequate sleep and rest. Making allowances for all the circumstances, in our view the appropriate sentence is one of three years' imprisonment."