Lorry driver found guilty of causing fatal crash

Danny Warby, 28, was driving the 13.6-tonne light goods vehicle along the A141 in Cambridgeshire when his lorry veered into oncoming traffic seconds after he looked at the message on his iPhone, Peterborough Crown Court heard.

He clipped an oncoming lorry and showered two more cars with debris before crashing into a Renault Clio driven by Cambridgeshire Police officer Sharon Garrett, 48.

The married mother-of-two, who was on her way home from work, was pronounced dead at the scene on June 6 2014.

In a statement, her family praised those who helped reach the verdict.

“The whole family remains devastated by what happened in June 2014,” the statement said. “Sharon was a wonderful woman, a hard-working and dedicated police officer.

“She meant so much to so many. Sharon was a fantastic mother who has been taken from her two young children in such tragic circumstances.

“Nothing can ever bring Sharon back, and words can never express how much we all miss her.”

Warby, of King’s Lynn, Norfolk, had denied a single count of causing death by dangerous driving but was convicted by unanimous verdict after a trial lasting nine days.

He had opened a text message seconds before the crash and had no hands-free kit in his lorry, said prosecutor Helen Guest.

It was revealed that Warby had previous convictions for drink-driving in 2011 and for using a mobile phone while driving and driving without a seatbelt.

Judge Stuart Bridge said: “This is a very serious offence with hugely tragic consequences and an immediate custodial sentence is inevitable.”