Haulage owners jailed for manslaughter

A father and son, owners of a haulage firm, have been jailed for the manslaughter. Stephen Kenyon — a driver for AJ Haulage — died after he fell asleep at the wheel after working excessive hours.

The father was sentenced to four years in prison and his son to two-and-a-half years for the manslaughter.

Father of four Mr Kenyon had been working for 19 hours when his 39-tonne lorry crashed into stationary traffic on the southbound carriageway of the M1 between Luton and Dunstable on 12 February 2010.

Tachographs on his vehicle showed he had been at work since 5am the previous day and that he had been driving for more than 13 hours, travelling almost 600 miles. Under road haulage legislation, commercial lorries can only be driven for a maximum of 10 hours in a 24-hour period, and then only two days a week.

The pair received a further three years and one-and-a-half years respectively for a number of revenue offences, including failure to pay tax on £5 million income.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/thames_chiltern/cps_thames_and_chiltern_news/sentencing_for_m1_fatal_collision/