In dash-cam footage, Raymond Catterall, 44, was seen driving on the A55 near Bangor with his phone in one hand while looking up and down from the device, searching for the podcasts, Daily Mail reported.
The video showed a stationary car up the road, but Catterall failed to notice it and his lorry then smashed into the side of a car. The car was almost going to hit the people, standing on the side of the road, but before that, he veered off the road and crashed into a bush.
Catterall, who is from Maghull in Merseyside, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at Caernarfon Crown Court. The judge sentenced him to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
Prosecutor William Griffin told the court how police were alerted to a crash involving Catterall’s lorry and a car on the A55 on May 15 last year. The lorry had struck the rear of a Kia Rio, which was half on the road and half on the verge.
The driver, who had been with Johnsons Workwear for 28 years, initially claimed to the responding police officer, PC Daniel Owen, that he had tried to swerve to avoid the car, which he said had unexpectedly pulled out in front of him. However, when questioned about potential distractions, he responded with ‘not that he could remember.’
The defence, led by Simon Mintz, revealed that the driver had been attempting to find a podcast on his phone at the time of the incident, which had distracted him enough to miss seeing the stationary vehicle on the carriageway. Mintz emphasized his client’s deep regret and remorse, stating, ‘Is not this another illustration of why none of us should use a phone while driving? ‘.
Judge Timothy Petts, in his address to the defendant, stressed that the crash was ‘entirely avoidable’ and served as a stark reminder of the dangers of using a mobile phone while driving. The judge handed down a suspended eight-month prison sentence, along with 150 hours of unpaid work and a three-month curfew with electronic monitoring from 7pm to 7am, reported Daily Mail.
Furthermore, the driver received a 12-month disqualification for both the dangerous driving charge and the offence of using a mobile phone while driving, to be served concurrently. To regain his driving privileges, he will be required to pass an extended retest.