Lorry driver faces jail for killing cop in head on crash moments after checking a message on his phone
A LORRY driver has caused the death of a police officer in a deadly motorway smash.
Danny Warby, 28, was looking at a text message on his phone seconds before the fatal accident which killed Sharon Garrett, 48, near RAF Wyton, Huntingdon.
Warby was driving a 3.6-tonne LGV along the A141 in Cambridgeshire when he veered into oncoming traffic.
He clipped a lorry driving in the opposite direction, showering two other cars with debris before smashing into Sharon’s Renault Clio.
The married mum-of-two - who was on her way home from work - was pronounced dead at the scene on 6 June 2014.
Warby had denied causing death by dangerous driving but was convicted by unanimous verdict after a trial lasting nine days at Peterborough crown court.
Prosecutor Helen Guest said he had opened the text message seconds before the impact and had no hands-free equipment in the vehicle with him.
After the verdict, it was revealed Warby had previous convictions for drink-driving in 2011 and for using a mobile phone at the wheel, as well as 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.”
Warby, of Runcton Holme, King's Lynn, Norfolk, was remanded in custody until sentencing on 12 September.
As the lorry driver was led away to the cells, someone in the public gallery could be heard to shout: “Danny, keep your chin up – I love you, boy.”
Sharon’s family welcomed the verdict.
They said in a statement: “The whole family remains devastated by what happened in June 2014.
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“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 had completed several short journeys on the day of the crash – the final one being less than one-and-a-half miles.
PC Pete Bimson, who investigated the accident, said: “This was a tragic incident which claimed the life of a police officer.
“But the evidence heard in court showed it could have been avoided and it really drives home the message that using a mobile phone at the wheel can have fatal consequences.”
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