Sleeping driver jailed over crash

A lorry driver has been jailed for 18 months for causing a fatal accident after falling asleep at the wheel.

Emma Kelly, 20, was killed when Russell Ellis's 17-tonne Volvo hit her car on the A361 between Shepton Mallet and Frome in November 2002.

A witness told Bristol Crown Court that the lorry drifted on to the other side of the road at a 45-degree angle.

Ellis, 26, from Melksham in Wiltshire, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Noel Sweeney, prosecuting, said: "There was no deliberate or instinctive reaction by the defendant to control the lorry before, during or after the collision.

"For all that time he must have been asleep at the wheel. By his plea he appears to accept that."

Jailing Ellis for 18 months, Judge Simon Darwall-Smith said: "It is a permanent loss for Emma Kelly's family and friends. It is something you won't forget for the rest of your life."

'Cruel'

Outside court, Miss Kelly's mother, Deborah Hough, said she was appalled at the short sentence.

Miss Kelly's boyfriend, Clark Mears, said: "It was our three-year anniversary. She had planned a meal and it was the night I was going to propose.

"It is cruel. Nothing will bring her back but 18 months in jail is not enough."

Mr Sweeney said Ellis had been out drinking the night before and his sleep had been interrupted by text messages on his phone.

Ellis was driving back to the lorry company's depot at the time of the crash. He was driving at 46mph in a 40mph zone.

The jury was told how Ellis' car "steadily drifted across the road" before hitting Miss Kelly's car.

Despite attempts to resuscitate her, she was declared dead at the scene.