A lorry driver who killed a mother-of-two when he smashed into her car was reading a text message as he crashed, it emerged last night.
Andrew Chrisp, who was not qualified to drive an HGV, was driving a truck which ploughed into a line of queuing cars at temporary traffic lights on the A1 near Denwick, two miles north of Alnwick, in February.
The 26-year-old admitted at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday causing death by dangerous driving in what is believed to be the first time in the region that it has been proved a driver killed someone while texting. Sentence was adjourned for reports.
Road safety groups last night condemned Chrisp, of Windsor Gardens, Alnwick, and called on the Government to take tougher measures on drivers who break the law by using their mobiles.
Mother-of-two Zoe Carvin, 42, a teacher, was killed at the wheel of her blue Skoda, among the queue of cars, which was smashed into two other vehicles by the lorry.
She had been taking her mother, Veronica Pikett, to the beach with their two dogs.
Chrisp was looking at a text message on his mobile phone as he drove the lorry and crashed into the waiting traffic.
Mrs Carvin, a key stage two teacher at Eglingham First School, near Alnwick, died at the scene and her mother suffered a broken arm. Her dog also died in the accident. Her husband Paul is now bringing up children Ben, 13, and Emily, 11, pupils at Rothbury Middle School, without their mother.
The Gateshead Council worker, of Church Road, Longframlington, Northumberland, did not want to comment last night.
The case follows one in June 2004, when van driver Alan Milbanke was talking on his mobile phone when he killed 68-year-old Derek Davies in a crash on the B6278 near Snods Edge, near Hexham, Northumberland. He was jailed for three years. That was believed to be the first time in Britain a driver has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving while using a phone, and it is believed Chrisp's offence is the first in the North-East to involve text messaging. Head of Campaigns at Brake, Cathy Keeler, said she hoped the Government would use the case as a reason to spend more money on making drivers aware of the risks.
She added: "Talking on a mobile phone is horrendously dangerous, but texting is even more dangerous because you are taking your eyes off the road. It's such a blatant danger that most drivers wouldn't even think of doing it. We hope that the law comes down hard on anybody who takes such little regard for their own lives and the lives of other people. There is more the Government can do. There is a ban on hand-held mobile phone use, but it is still dangerous to talk with a hands-free set because you are not concentrating on the road. We believe they should be going further on that law and we would like the Government to spend more on publicity campaigns about this."
Under current law, using a mobile phone while driving - even in a traffic jam or at lights - is a specific offence, which leads to a £30 automatic fine. However, if drivers fall "far below" the standard required they can be charged with dangerous driving, which can lead to a £5,000 fine or six months in prison. Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents spokesman Roger Vincent added: "This is another horrendous death involving a mobile phone, and we now know the courts will be taking into account phone use as an aggravating feature. This is a case that has ended in a death, and we can only hope that when the Road Safety Bill goes through the House of Commons and people receive three penalty points for using their phones, they will realise how serious their actions are."
A CPS spokeswoman sad: "In Mr Milbanke's case we argued that it was death by dangerous driving - in this case it is even worse because he was reading a text message, so his eyes were off the road."
