LORRY DRIVER WHO FELL ASLEEP AT WHEEL JAILED FOR CAUSING FATAL CRASH

A lorry driver who fell asleep at the wheel and ploughed into a car, killing a man and seriously injuring his wife, was yesterday jailed for 10 months and banned from driving for three years. Hayden Bailey, 54 from Newport was returning from delivering bread in Chippenham when the incident happened on April 13 last year.
Dan Williams, prosecuting, told Cardiff crown court that Bailey was driving along the A48 Eastern Avenue in Cardiff when his 18-tonne lorry hit a nearside crash barrier, and veered across two lanes and through the central reservation. It collided with a car driven by Leonard Nicholls, 69, of Cyncoed, who was driving his wife, Evelyn, 68, to a garden centre. An ambulance was called, but Nicholls had suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene. His wife also suffered serious injuries. Bailey pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.Ian Dixie, defending, said Bailey was sincerely sorry. "The terrible irony is that his own father died from a road accident, which has made him a very careful driver."