A man whose carelessness behind the wheel on the A66 caused the death of a fellow lorry driver in a head-on crash has been warned he could receive a prison sentence.
Nathan Michael Walker, 26, appeared at Carlisle Crown Court this afternoon following the incident on December 22 2021 in the area of Kirkby Thore village, between Penrith and Appleby, shortly after 5am.
As a result of the collision, 60-year-old Paul Stenner, from the Lincolnshire area, lost his life.
During a previous crown court hearing, Walker had pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing Mr Stenner’s death by driving a MAN large goods vehicle carelessly.
A trial date had been fixed and expert reports were commissioned by Walker’s legal team.
As Walker appeared in court today, his barrister Jon Dye told Judge Michael Fanning said a neurologist and cardiologist had been consulted. “Although they can’t rule out there was a syncope (the medical term for fainting or passing out), we don’t have anything concrete to say there was,” said Mr Fye.
As a result, Mr Dye asked for the charge to be read again to Walker, who from the dock entered a guilty plea.
Sentencing was adjourned. Walker – a man of previous good character – will meet with a probation officer who will prepared a detailed background report for the judge who will hand down punishment.
Walker is due to be sentenced on Thursday, June 20. He was handed an interim driving ban, the exact length of which will be set at that hearing next month.
Mr Dye had told the judge: “He doesn’t ever want to go back to driving an HGV.”
Releasing Walker, of Hall Close, Hemsworth, near Pontefract, on bail until the next hearing, Judge Fanning told him he couldn’t rule out any options, including a prison sentence.
“You will be given appropriate credit for the guilty plea,” said the judge. “You have saved the need for a trial and that also saves further pain to the family of the deceased.”
