HGV driver admits breaking regulations

A DRIVER whose lorry plunged off a bridge and hit a train appeared in court yesterday and admitted breaking a string of haulage safety regulations.

Bob Mortimer, 47, of Brooklands Road, Brantham, fractured his pelvis in two places when his Scania 38-tonne lorry hit a concrete bridge in Lawford and hurtled 30ft down an embankment and onto the London-bound railway line, where it was hit by a Freightliner train.

The accident happened on the A137, last July, 20 minutes before the first Intercity train of the day was due to leave Ipswich.

The top of the cab was severed by the bridge. The rest of the debris was shunted 400 metres up the Norwich-London track by the train, which was towing 19 carriages containing liquid phosphorus. The train was not derailed and no-one was killed.

Yesterday Mortimer appeared before Colchester Magistrates' Court charged with breaching safety regulations last June. They are unrelated to the accident in July.

He pleaded guilty to driving for more than four-and-a-half hours without a 45-minute break; 15 counts of driving a lorry with a speed limiter which didn't comply with regulations; and one charge of driving a lorry without having a rest period of nine hours.

Mortimer was excused from standing while the charges were read out to him as he is still in pain from the accident and was leaning heavily on a walking stick.

He faces two charges in relation to the accident, including careless driving and breaking a regulation regarding his lorry's load but he has not yet entered a plea to them.

Magistrates adjourned his case until March 21 when he must return to Colchester Magistrates' Court.