The driver of a lorry which smashed into the back of a RAF coach killing three air cadets admitted he was driving carelessly, Peterborough Crown Court heard yesterday.

Lorry driver Simon Bland, 37, of Peterborough, and coach driver Jeanette Morris, 48, of Stamford, Lincolnshire, each deny three charges of causing death by dangerous driving. Wayne Maynard, 18, of Brent Place, Barnet, died along with 15-year-olds Christopher Colmer, from Pinner, and Jason Adnitt, from Edmonton.

Mr Bland yesterday said that he had not braked his 38-tonne lorry because he was trying to steer around the coach which the court heard had stopped in the left hand lane of the busy A1 dual carriageway in Cambridgeshire, following a minor accident with another vehicle.

"As soon as I saw the coach the only option I had was to try to steer around it," said Mr Bland. "If I had only braked it would never have stopped in time. I pulled sharply to the right with my foot on the brake and clipped the back of the coach.

However, after cross examination, he admitted: "To some extent I didn't see the coach quickly enough."

Defending Mrs Morris, Joanna Greenberg, suggested the lorry driver had not been concentrating.

"You didn't start to brake until you were within a quarter of a second of the impact," she said. "You didn't see the coach because you weren't looking. You were cruising along with your cruise control set at 56mph without responding in any way to other road users."

Nineteen cadets including some from 2236 (Stanmore) Squadron ATC in Douglas Close were injured in the collision on August 21 last year. Air cadet James Topping, 16, a pupil at Mill Hill County High School, spent months in hospital following the accident. They had been on summer camp when the tragedy occurred.

The case continues.

November 21, 2001 18:47

MATTHEW NIXSON