A football agent who sent up to 25 texts and WhatsApps while speeding at 81mph on the M6 before losing control of his Mercedes 4×4 and killing a traffic officer has been jailed for seven
A football agent who sent up to 25 WhatsApp messages while speeding at 81mph on the M6, before losing control of his Mercedes 4×4 and killing a traffic officer has been jailed for seven years.
Peter Morrison, 37, left a second officer paralysed from the waist down when he was clocked at more than 80mph driving in rain and high winds, swerving across three lanes in his his Mercedes ML350 and ploughing into the pair on the hard shoulder of the M6 near Tebay, Cumbria.
Adam Gibb and Paul Holroyd, both aged 51, were on the scene of another collision and making the road safe when the incident happened, shortly after midday on February 21 2016.
Mr Gibb, of Penrith, received fatal injuries and Mr Holroyd, of Kirkby Stephens, suffered a broken back and was paralysed from the chest down.
Morrison, an agent for a number of professional footballers, admitted causing death by careless driving but denied his driving was dangerous.
He was convicted in November by a jury at Carlisle Crown Court of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving, following a six-day trial.
Evidence showed that Morrison was driving at an average speed of 81mph in heavy rain and high winds while the road had surface water causing heavy spray.
A 50mph variable speed limit was in place at the time due to the poor weather conditions.
Morrison lost control of the vehicle, crashing into the hard shoulder and hitting highways trafic officer Adam Gibb (left), of Penrith, and his colleague Paul Holroyd, of Kirkby Stephen. Mr Gibb, 51, died and Mr Holroyd (right), also 51, was left paralysed from the chest down
When Morrison’s mobile phone was examined, it showed he had sent 44 text and WhatsApp messages during the journey.
He last sent a message a minute and a half before the fatal collision to footballer Zach Clough – who was playing for Bolton Wanderers at the time – about a goal scored, and the last reply he received was 45 seconds beforehand.
At his trial in November, the defendant admitted that his driving before the accident on February 21 2016 had been careless, and that his use of a phone at the wheel was ‘unwise’. But he denied it was dangerous.
The former professional footballer played for Bolton Wanderers and Scunthorpe United.
The jury at Carlisle Crown Court returned its unanimous guilty verdict this morning after deliberating for a day.
Another text conversation involved Manchester City youngster Cameron Humphreys (pictured)
The six-day trial heard how experts who examined Morrison’s Apple iPhone after the crash found that he had sent and received messages before he lost control.
Carlisle Crown Court heard his last message was sent to Championship footballer Zach Clough just 96 seconds before the crash, which was a video link to a goal the striker had scored for Bolton Wanderers.
Clough responded in a text received by the agent’s phone after the crash: ‘Not bad was it, ha ha.’
Another conversation involved Manchester City youngster Cameron Humphreys, the court heard. The last message received by Morrison, which read ‘Jack’s pen’, reached his phone just 45 seconds before impact.
At the time, the road was being battered by strong winds, and driving rain.
The weather so bad that it was like driving through a car wash, according to one motorist who gave evidence.
Morrison told the jury that shortly before the crash, he noticed a sign warning of an accident ahead and another advising there was a 50mph speed limit.
This prompted him to slow to between 60mph and 65mph. He said he wanted to concentrate on the road.
But prosecuting, Arthur Gibson suggested he had made up that account of the tragedy, and that the accident was the result of him speeding in bad weather while using his phone.
Pictures of the crash scene on the M6 near hap, Cumbria, on February 21 last year
Mr Gibb and Mr Holroyd were supervising the recovery of two vehicles damaged in an earlier accident when they were struck by the car.
Mr Gibson told the jury: ‘He was concentrating on something else other than his driving, the road conditions and the road.’
The barrister insisted that Morrison, from The Warke, Worsley, near Salford, was distracted by his phone as he drove at ‘excessive speed’ in poor weather.
Morrison said he has been devastated by the consequences of the accident he caused, and thought about the people whose lives were affected every single day.
He has been warned he faces a ‘substantial custodial sentence’.
He will be sentenced on November 23. Judge Peter Davies granted him bail in an ‘act of mercy’.
Speaking after today’s verdict, Robert Smith for the CPS, told the News and Star: ‘This is a tragic case where two highways officers who were making the road safe for other people were hit by an out-of-control car.
‘Morrison was using his mobile phone while driving at dangerously high speeds for the road conditions at the time.
‘He failed to heed the many variable speed limit signs and notice boards warning drivers about the accident ahead.
‘Morrison pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving, claiming that a gust of wind and the wet road had caused him to lose control of the car.
‘It was the prosecution’s case, however, that his driving was dangerous and after considering the evidence against him, the jury have agreed.
‘Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims at this time.’