Trucker jailed over woman's death

The judge said Rolf Artmann had shown deep and obvious remorse

A German lorry driver who crashed and killed a 63-year-old woman on Anglesey after driving from Dover without a break has been jailed for four years.

Rolf Artmann, 54, from Dortmund, had admitted last month causing the death of Dorothy Thomas, 63, at Amlwch.

He had claimed he had not been tired when he crashed into the Suzuki car driven by Ms Thomas, who lived locally.

His sentencing at Mold Crown Court on Friday heard Artmann had driven from Germany almost non-stop.

The fatal crash happened on the A5025 as Artmann, a grandfather and father-of-six, was heading for a plastics factory in Amlwch.

The court heard that he said he had intended to rest at the factory because he was scared of stopping in a lay-by or a motorway service station in case he was attacked.

He had been driving for 19 hours since the start of his journey and twice removed the chart from his tachograph to cover up offences in his drivers' hours.

In my judgement you are a competent driver who fell from grace on this occasion because you were deprived of sleep Judge John Rogers

He admitted he had drifted on to the wrong side of the road when his fully laden articulated lorry crashed head-on with Mrs Thomas's car at Cerrigman, near Amlwch, shortly after 0100 GMT on Thursday, 27 March.

His barrister described the incident as a momentary loss of concentration by his client which had devastating consequences.

Retired receptionist Mrs Thomas, who had earlier visited her parents in a residential home, suffered multiple injuries and was declared dead at the scene.

Judge John Rogers QC said Artmann was driving when knowingly deprived of adequate sleep and rest and he had deliberately covered up that fact.

Impact statement

He said the sentence had to punish the defendant and also deter other lorry drivers from deliberately flouting the legislation on drivers' hours.

However, he said there were important matters of mitigation - Artmann's guilty plea at the earliest moment, his deep and obvious remorse and his excellent previous character.

The judge also imposed a three-year driving ban.

He said: "In my judgement you are a competent driver who fell from grace on this occasion because you were deprived of sleep."

Mrs Thomas's husband, Gwyn, gave an impact statement. He said his life as he knew it had come to an end with his wife's death.

The court heard they had been married for 42 years and Mr Thomas said his wife had been his friend, his companion and his mentor, who filled her day helping others.

He said her loss had been like "pulling a switch" and the emptiness in his life now could never be filled

He left court too upset to speak about the tragedy.