A lorry driver distracted by the sat-nav on his mobile phone careered through a red light and killed a well known one-armed golf champion.

William Wright, 24, was driving a 42-tonne Mercedes Benz Actros artic which jumped the Hayfield lights 19 seconds after they had turned red.

Wright, from Gleadless in Sheffield, had the device on the dashboard of his truck, with earphones attached and was using it for directions on a 160km round trip.

Victim John Roberts, 69, suffered multiple injuries and died at the scene after he pulled out of Hayfield Road in his BMW 5 series into the path of Wright's lorry, at 8am on December 22, 2017 (https://www.qlocal.co.uk/southport/n...k-55027035.htm)

In Burnley Crown Court on Monday, Wright was spared immediate custody and handed a 15 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to causing death by careless driving. The court heard he admitted using his phone as a sat-nav but inquiries revealed he was not holding the phone nor was he texting or calling anyone at the time of the impact.

Paul Cummings, prosecuting, said Wright had been making a delivery from Yorkshire to Burscough and was travelling at 38mph in the 40mph zone.

He told the court: "It’s clear two red lights were showing against the defendant and he should have stopped - these lights were on the main road and were on red for a total of 19 seconds before the collision.

"It's only towards the end of the sequence that the green light in the side road changes from green to amber to red.

"John Roberts entered the junction when it had the green light and it was changing to amber just as he entered the junction itself. His driving could not be criticised.... "

He was looked after by members of the public who had come out of their houses to help.

"Paramedics arrived but sadly the injuries he sustained were severe and he died at the scene."

The court heard Wright, who had been driving for two hours without a break, was 200m away at the time the lights turned red, which would have given him 12 seconds to respond. Mr Cummings said: "The defendant said he was paying attention and he wasn’t distracted.

"He said he thought the lights were on green.

"He agreed he was using the sat-nav in his phone as he hadn’t been to the area before.

"Police were looking at the data and the phone had been resting on the dashboard and the earphones were attached."

Iain Johnstone, defending, said his client had no previous convictions and a clean driving record.

He said: "In his character references he is described as a fine, upstanding young man, kind and someone who would put other people’s considerations before his own.

"It’s a very tragic situation which brings these two otherwise upstanding families together....

"He does show genuine remorse and it is not simply regret for what happened to him.

"The regret is in fact for Mr Roberts family and the effect it had on them.

"Secondly the regret is for his own family and the effect on them. Mr Johnstone said Wright had since lost his job and had no further employment lined up.

He told the court: "Consequences have rippled out across both families. He is never going to put this incident out of his mind."Sending him to prison will not rectify the situation. He just didn’t see the light was red, he genuinely thought it was green."

Judge Sara Dodd, sentencing, agreed to spare Wright from jail but banned him from driving for 15 months and ordered him to complete 300 hours unpaid work. She said: "There were warning signs of those lights yet unexpectedly you didn’t see, or failed to regard, the red light against you.

"John Roberts was 69, he was an adored husband, father and grandad and he died at the scene.

"There was a degree of distraction by the use of the sat-nav, which is perfectly legal.

"You failed to see the signs or the change in the road.

"I accept the remorse you have is genuine, not for yourself, but for the family of John Roberts primarily, but also your own family. I am sure John Roberts family understand that.

"You have a burden to bear for the rest of your life. I see you have struggled with that.

"You will make reparations to the community as you cannot repay the harm done to Mr Roberts family."

There was justice of sorts for the Roberts family after his untimely death reinforced calls for the introduction of a 30 limit on County Road; this stretch of the road now has a new, lower speed limit.