Police realised Uber driver was alive when they saw hand ’emerge from wreckage’

Police only realised that an Uber driver had survived a horror crash when they spotted his hand "emerging from the wreckage". Ryanair pilots Jamie Fernandes, 24, and Matthew Greenhalgh, 28, died when the taxi which was taking them to Liverpool John Lennon Airport [1] was crushed between two lorries.

It came after the driver of the HGV travelling behind them, Anthony Burns, failed to spot a queue of stationary traffic which had formed ahead of him amid a closure of the westbound carriageway of the M62. While he was suspected of having fallen asleep at the wheel, he now claims he was "effectively on autopilot" and "did not register what was ahead of him until it was far, far too late".

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Liverpool Crown Court [2] heard this week that Uber driver Rashid Mehmood collected Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh from Luton Airport at around 1.30am on July 10 2024 in order to transport them to Liverpool John Lennon Airport. He later reported his passengers "immediately went to sleep" and the journey in his Toyota Auris taxi was "relatively non-eventful".

But Damian Nolan, prosecuting, described how "all of that was to change on the M62 as the Toyota headed westbound and neared Liverpool". Approaching junction eight at Warrington [3] West, signs on overhead gantries warned motorists to slow from 70mph to 60mph, and subsequently to 50mph and 40mph, due to an incident on the opposite carriageway which required the temporary closure of the westbound motorway to allow paramedics to gain access to the scene.

This led to a "pretty big queue of traffic" near to the entry slip road, with the Uber coming to a stop behind a lorry.

CCTV footage showed both vehicles stationary for several seconds before the HGV being driven by Burns, of Headington Road in Upton [4], Wirral [5], ploughed into the back of the taxi, only braking less than one second before impact. Advertisement Advertisement

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Mr Mehmood's car was then crushed between the two lorries, with Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh being left with injuries which were "not survivable". The taxi driver meanwhile "remarkably survived" after sustaining a broken shoulder, "multiple rib fractures" and continuing difficulties with his spine, with officers only becoming aware of his presence upon seeing his hand "emerging from the wreckage".

Pilots Matt Greenhalgh, left, and Jamie Fernandes

In a statement which was read to the court on his behalf during Tuesday's hearing, Mr Mehmood, who also worked in a warehouse prior to the crash, said: "The day of the collision was like any other day.

I don't have any memory of the collision. The first thing I really knew was when I was in hospital with my family.

"I've never experienced anything like this in my life. It's difficult for me to come to terms what happened and that two passengers died in tragic circumstances.

I think about this every day. I've been unable work since last July.

"I sometimes don't want to speak to anyone. I don't even see my young son.

This is very different to how I was prior to the collision. I was never an angry person before. I lock myself away so I don't upset my friends and family.

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"I often think, why did I take that job? What if I'd taken a diff route? These are questions I ask myself every day.

This is a tragedy. Two persons have lost their lives. Their families have lost loved ones, and my sincere condolences go out to them."

One witness, Iain McGilp, went on to tell police that it was "like the driver [Burns] had fallen asleep approaching the traffic". Mr Nolan detailed how his lorry was not found to have any defects which would have caused the crash,[6] with the 63-year-old defendant having seemingly "had an unobstructed view of the rear of the queueing traffic" for at least 500 metres prior to the scene of the collision.

Burns was similarly not found to have been using his mobile phone at the time and was not under the influence of drink or drugs.

A tachograph unit fitted to his HGV showed he had been "travelling at a steady 56mph" for 35 minutes prior to the incident, save for a "short period of deceleration" around four minutes earlier.

Under interview, Burns answered no comment to all questions asked of him and "provided no explanation for his manner of driving". He has 16 previous convictions for 28 offences, including receiving a suspended prison sentence for arson in the 1990s. Advertisement

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Burns was also handed three penalty points in August 2021 for driving a HGV with an unsafe load after his lorry shed its cargo on the A18 near Scunthorpe.

Michael Hayton KC, defending, told the court: "The victims were two young man of bright futures, bright pasts, loving families with a great deal to look forward to."

With Judge Simon Medland KC having observed that Burns was "riven by remorse", his counsel added: "That is an apposite way of putting the position. There is very clear remorse and regret for the profound impact that his behaviour and actions have had upon the families of all the victims.

"In the intervening period, knowing that there are those who have lost family members, he too has suffered a great deal. He is empathising with those who have suffered and very much regrets, for their part, what he has done.

He would do anything to go back in time. He is, no doubt, not alone in that.

"He was effectively on autopilot. He went out that day to do his job.

He has been a professional driver for more than 30 years. He has never had an accident, either as a personal driver or in his professional capacity. He is, on any other day, a safe driver.

On this particular occasion, he has driven dangerously and caused two deaths and serious injury. Advertisement Advertisement

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"When one looks at what his driving was, we suggest that the gravamen of his offending is in the period of time in the immediate run up to the crash. The vehicle had largely been driving at a steady speed for more than half an hour.

That suggests that he was conscious and able to manoeuvre. Although he brakes far, far too late, one second before impact, he does brake, meaning that he was conscious.

"He should have been on notice that there was the potential for slower traffic ahead, and he did not respond to that. He did not register what was ahead of him until it was far, far too late.

There are enough vehicles with enough red lights ahead of him that he should have noticed it up to 20 seconds previously.

"In this case, what we have is a man doing his job and doing it safely, as he has done for 31 years previously, and just switching off for up to 20 seconds previously. The worst thing that can be said about the defendant's driving is that he had been warned by the matrix signs and he had 20 seconds to react, but he did not.

"He is supported today by a loving, caring family whose focus is on him, who are all alive to the impact on that side of the room [the public gallery where the victims' families were seated] being far greater. The letters of reference and character advanced on his behalf all reinforce that this is a man who, after the period of time since the incident, has changed beyond recognition.

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"He is keen and anxious that people do not leave this courtroom thinking he did not care or it did not have an impact on him. He will not live with it like they live with it, but live with it he will.

"These are awful cases, tragic cases, extremely tragic in circumstances of such bright, shining young things that have been taken away from the families. This defendant regrets what he did.

He did not go out to drive dangerously. He did not go out to drive a machine of death and mayhem, but each time one of us gets behind the wheel there is a risk.

"Here, for a few seconds, he did not notice what was going on. It is dangerous driving that gives him a substantial sentence of imprisonment that, at his age, will make it difficult, and, with his mental health, will make it difficult."

Burns admitted two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Appearing in the dock wearing a black jacket over a white shirt and grey tie and sporting short grey hair, he appeared to shake his head as he was led to the cells after being jailed for 10 years.

Anthony Burns, of Headington Road in Upton, Wirral, aged 63 -Credit:Cheshire Police

Sentencing, Judge Medland said: ""Nobody suggests for one moment that you set out that day to cause harm or injury, still less death, to anybody. For decades by then, you had been a commercial driver and an experienced HGV man. You were not on your phone, you were not under the influence of drink or drugs.

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"Whether you were on a sort of robotic autopilot, who knows? You do not know. You were driving at 56mph in a 40mph advisory in torrential rain, with heavy road water and spray.

This was a speed which was highly inappropriate for the prevailing weather [7] conditions.

"This dreadful, tragic episode killed two men and seriousLY injured a third. You have heard, and will have understood, the terrible and enduring impact which this episode had on the family and friends of Mr Fernandes and Mr Greenhalgh, and the enduring day to day impact it has on Mr Mehmood.

"The word grief does not quite sum up the feeling. There is always, of course, the oppressive guilt of the survivor, which you probably feel yourself.

This sentence is not in any way a value of their lives. That would be impossible. The court must instead reach for what it sees as a just sentence in this case."

Burns will be required to serve at least two thirds of his prison term behind bars before becoming eligible for release.

He was banned from driving for 150 months and will be required to pass an extended retest before he is allowed back on the roads.

References

^ John Lennon Airport (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ Liverpool Crown Court (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ Warrington (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ Upton (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ Wirral (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ Mr Nolan detailed how his lorry was not found to have any defects which would have caused the crash, (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
^ weather (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)