HGV driver who killed couple gets eight years

A lorry driver who fell asleep at the wheel of his cab and killed an engaged couple in a motorway crash was jailed for eight years and banned from driving for life.

Paul Couldridge, 44, had nodded off while driving 15 times before but continued working as a lorry driver despite being diagnosed with a disorder, obstructive sleep apnoea, in 1999.

On 20 September 2000, Couldridge, who had a second job as a cleaner, fell asleep while driving his unattached cab on the London-bound carriageway of the M20 in Kent, killing Stephen Williams, 24, and Sheila Ryan, 25.

Couldridge, of Gravesend, Kent, denied two counts of death by dangerous driving but was found guilty by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court.

Passing sentence, Judge David Mitchell said: "You have cut short the lives of two young people in their prime. They were engaged to be married and nothing I can say or do will bring them back," he added.

"It's difficult to imagine a more serious case of its type. The fact is, you knew you should not be driving and that it was dangerous for you even to get behind the wheel of a car," the judge said. "Sooner or later, it was a certainty, given that history, there would be an accident of very serious consequences. That it was not even more serious is a miracle."

Couldridge's cab struck a broken-down van on the hard shoulder before veering across three lanes and into the oncoming BMW that carried Mr Williams and Ms Ryan.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Williams' parents, Barry and Sylvia, said Couldridge might as well have shot the couple. He knew he was likely to kill somebody if he drove.

Mr Williams said: "I feel hatred towards him. He has taken away our son and future daughter-in-law from us. He was fully aware of what he was doing and knew he should not have been behind the wheel."

Couldridge had told a doctor he had fallen asleep 15 times while driving and that, on some occasions, minor accidents had been caused.

Dr George Bird, a GP and consultant at Maidstone Hospital, said Couldridge had taken various tests and had been diagnosed with the sleep disorder. He said Couldridge was ordered not to drive.

In the witness box, Couldridge claimed he had lied about his tiredness so that he could get time off work to deal with family problems. He said: "I lied to the GP. I told him I was tired but I was not. As far as I knew, there was nothing wrong with me. All I knew was I had a snoring problem."

He added he would have rather died than see the young couple perish. "I really feel for the families," he said. "It should have been me that died."

Witnesses said they saw him wrestling with the wheel in an attempt to regain control of his vehicle. Others saw a body thrown from the BMW.

* The motorist jailed for five years this month for causing the Selby rail disaster is to appeal against conviction. Gary Hart, 37, was found guilty of causing ten deaths on 28 February last year after falling asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover.