It was revealed in court that Stephen Dudley, 44, (pictured) had failed to safely secure the equipment in his flatbed truck before making his way to work
A builder who was found guilty of killing a female army officer when an unsecured generator fell off the back of his truck was sentenced to four years behind bars.
Warrant officer Emma Beeney was walking along a lane in Etchingham, East Sussex, with her husband Rob, 44, and the family dog in August 2016 when a generator attached to a pneumatic hammer hit her.
The 40-year-old suffered horrific head injuries and died at the scene while her husband sustained a fractured skull.
It was revealed in court that Stephen Dudley, 44, of Ashford, Kent had failed to safely secure the equipment in his flatbed truck before making his way to work.
A truck attached to the vehicle ‘flipped’ off into the road and then hit Ms Beeney and her husband, who were walking on the pavement.
Alan Gardner, prosecuting, told the court that Dudley had failed to use ratchet straps to secure the heavy loads.
Mr Gardner said: ‘As the driver it was his responsibility to ensure the load was safely secured. He did not strap down the items, they were left unsecured. His failure was to have tragic consequences.’
The court heard that after the 60kg generator struck the couple Dudley got out of the vehicle to check what had happened before shouting to a colleague in the truck: ‘Quick, come over here.’
He could then be heard saying: ‘Oh my God’ as passers-by attempted to give first aid to the couple.
The judge condemned Dudley for his ‘complete lack of remorse’ and for putting the family through the misery of court.
Army warrant officer Emma Beeney, 40, (left) was killed and her husband Rob, 44, also a serving soldier, (right) was seriously injured after they were struck by a 66kg generator which fell from a flatbed Ford Transit
A CCTV image which shows a generator not attached to the back of the Ford Transit van which Stephen Dudley was driving
Dudley wept through the sentencing as Judge Guy Anthony told him: ‘It was perfectly apparent to me that you knew it should have been secured. But as soon as the accident happened you were busy telling your boss you had secured it and told police you had done exactly that.
‘You cast cast the blame on everyone else, said you should have had more training, it was a freak accident.’
The judge said: ‘It’s all very well sitting there and dabbing your eyes throughout the hearing but he tried to blame everyone else for the accident, he has not expressed remorse at all.’
Speaking after the case the family said: ‘Regardless of the verdict, the consequence of Mr Dud-ley’s behaviour are that Rob will spend the rest of his life with a broken heart and irreversible in-juries and for all Emma’s family our sentence is ‘for life without Emma’.
‘We would like to express our sadness and disappointment that in the 19 months since Emma’s tragic death, Mr Dudley has shown no remorse or taken any responsibility for his actions.’
The sentenced him to four years for causing death by dangerous driving and two years for causing serious injury by dangerous driving at Lewes Crown Court. He was also banned from driving for a minimum of seven years. He will be eligible for release from prison after serving two years.
Emma Beeney, 40, was killed and her husband Rob, 44, also a serving soldier
An image of the generator which fell from the back of the Ford Transit van