A lorry driver spoke of his family and love for his wife as he lay dying on the roadside after being struck by a truck on the M69 motorway in Leicestershire, a jury has heard.
Kerry Pemberton, 55, from Birmingham, told those who stopped to help as he lay trapped under his vehicle how proud he was of his five children and grandchildren, and asked for someone to phone his wife.
He also asked after the welfare of the other driver, Felix Gillon, who is now on trial accused of causing death by dangerous driving. Gillon, 56, is alleged to have been watching porn when the crash happened.
Jonathan Lambert, a retired army warrant officer and medic, was driving past the scene and stopped to help at 3.20pm.
Felix Gillon, 56, has been accused of death by dangerous driving, and he is alleged to have been watching porn when the crash happened
In a statement read out in court, he said he spoke with Mr Pemberton, whose legs were trapped under the lorry, and then handed over to the paramedics when they arrived.
He said: ‘He was conscious and talking; said he wasn’t in pain but was just uncomfortable.
‘He kept asking if the other driver was okay.
‘He told me he was 55 and married with five children.
‘He loved his wife deeply and was incredibly proud of his children and grandchildren.
‘On his mobile phone were pictures of his wife and best friend.’
Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Hanson, of West Midlands Police, also stopped at the scene.
He said, also in a statement read out, that the refrigerated Iveco lorry was ‘completely ripped apart’.
The officer also spoke to the trapped Mr Pemberton. Mr Hanson stated: ‘He was able to tell me about his family, children and grandchildren and asked me to take his phone to call his wife.
‘I was really saddened to hear the casualty subsequently died.’
Felix Gillon has been accused of watching porn on his phone when he ploughed into a broken down truck on the hard shoulder of the M69 and killed the driver.
Mr Pemberton had stepped out of his vehicle while waiting for assistance in May last year and was crushed between his lorry and a safety barrier, a court heard.
Gillon, 56, of Bedworth, Warwickshire, denies causing Mr Pemberton’s death by driving a Scania lorry dangerously, on the afternoon of May 3 last year.
He also denies intending to pervert the course of justice by dismantling his mobile phone, breaking his SIM card and throwing them away – which was seen by an off-duty officer at the scene.
The prosecution allege that pictures, including galleries of pornographic images, were found on the phone – and records showed that the 56-year-old made a Google search for ‘porn star candy love,’ before the crash.
Gillon of, Bedworth, Warwickshire, failed to see Mr Pemberton or his broken down lorry, it was claimed at Leicester Crown Court.
A lorry driver was watching porn on his phone when he ploughed into a broken down truck on the hard shoulder of the M69 and killed the driver, a court heard
Witness Denise Walton, who was travelling behind the defendant’s lorry, said she was overtaking it when it collided with a vehicle on the hard shoulder.
She said she had earlier seen the Scania ‘veering onto the hard shoulder and out again’.
Ms Walton said: ‘The first time I thought it was the wind, but there was no wind.’
She said she kept her distance because ‘it was quite scary’.
Ms Walton added: ‘I started to overtake the lorry and we heard a loud bang and saw the wheels and wood coming apart from the lorry.
‘A lot of wood went over my car.’
Her partner, Steve Lee, was in the front passenger seat.
His statement was read out in court.
In it, he said: ‘As we were getting close to the turn off for Hinckley I noticed a lorry in front of us.
‘We were in lane one.
‘This lorry seemed to drift into the hard shoulder three or four times.
‘I think I said something like, ‘Christ, look at him’, to Denise.
‘Denise decided to overtake the lorry. As she was doing this I saw that there was something parked up on the hard shoulder.
‘Then there was an enormous bang, and then there was debris all over the place.
‘This all happened really quickly.’
Mr Pemberton had also been driving away from Leicester when his lorry broke down near the A5 slip-road.
The court was told the victim had stopped on the side of the road at 3pm on May 3, 10 minutes before the crash.
Gillon’s truck was carrying a portable office which was slightly wider than his vehicle and after the front nearside of his lorry hit the back of Mr Pemberton’s, he was crushed between a safety fence and his own lorry.
He survived the initial impact but was trapped under wreckage – and later died in hospital.
A police officer passing the scene of the incident spotted Gillon throw an item overarm towards a grass embankment.
Felix Gillon was seen throwing his mobile away after he had smashed into Kerry Pemberton, 55, Leicester Crown Court heard
When Gillon was asked what he had thrown, he told the police he had tossed his phone away because he was angry and it was damaged.
When it was examined at the scene, the mobile did not appear to be heavily damaged but it was missing its battery and SIM card.
And later that day police recovered a snapped SIM card and the battery from the grass near to the crash.
The court heard that the defendant claimed he threw the mobile away at the scene because it was damaged in the crash. But he had, allegedly, made three calls immediately after the collision.
An onboard monitor from Gillon’s lorry showed his speed fluctuating between 55mph and 48mph before the crash and four minutes before the smash he had accessed the internet on his phone, the court heard.
He had allegedly googled ‘porn star candy love’.
And from then until the collision, he accessed 25 webpages, including porn images.
Retired constable and serious collision accident investigator Martin Broughton told the jury the Iveco lorry, in his opinion, was fully on the hard shoulder and not protruding into the carriageway, as claimed by the defence.
This was because tyre marks from the Iveco’s brake-locked wheels – when the lorry was shunted forwards by the impact – began within the hard shoulder area.
He said tachograph evidence showed the defendant’s speed also fluctuated at the same time his phone was accessing various websites.
The court heard that Gillon accepted the collision occurred but stated that firstly, Mr Pemberton’s vehicle was sticking out into the road and secondly, that he was not using his phone.
Mr Bide-Thomas, prosecuting, said: ‘When interviewed by the police, he stated that it was on the lorry’s dashboard from the time that he left Leicester.
‘You may feel as a matter of common sense that mobile phones do not surf the internet on their own.
‘You may also feel that the results of the phone analysis explain why the defendant took the SIM card out of his phone and snapped it, before throwing it, the battery and the phone away.
‘We say that the defendant knew that the evidence on that phone would prove that he was not paying attention at the time of the collision.’
Gillon denies causing death by dangerous driving, and doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice by dismantling his mobile phone, breaking his SIM card and throwing them both away.
The trial continues.
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