Lorry driver was on video call to wife when he killed Ashford dad-of-two in M20 crash
A foreign trucker who was on a video call with his wife when he ploughed into the rear of a car on the M20, killing a dad-of-two, has been jailed for 11 years. Zvonko Tomisa, from Vidovec in Croatia, was at the wheel of a MAN lorry when he hit a Nissan Qashqai being driven by 36-year-old Arran McManus, from Ashford, forcing it into the rear of a Scania articulated HGV.
The horrific three-vehicle crash shortly after 8.30am on November 25 last year occurred during a traffic jam on the Londonbound carriageway caused by a prior, unrelated accident that required a rolling 50mph speed restriction. Maidstone Crown Court heard that 58-year-old Tomisa, who was heading up the motorway from Dover docks, was travelling at around 55mph when he failed to notice the standstill traffic ahead across all three lanes between junctions 9 and 8 at Lenham, near Maidstone.
Dashcam footage showed he did not start braking until less than a second before he drove into the back of Mr McManus at approximately 48mph, catastrophically crushing his car. Such was the force of the impact that Tomisa's lorry also hit the Scania HGV in front of Mr McManus's Qashqai and shunted it forward. Prosecutor Andrew Boulsfield told Tomisa's sentencing hearing this afternoon that the reason for the professional lorry driver's "prolonged" lack of concentration and inattention to the road for approximately 28 seconds was revealed by an examination of his phone by police post-arrest.
Data showed that within 10 minutes of him setting off from the docks at 7.39am he had messaged his wife, Marina, asking her to call him.
He then phoned her but the call went unanswered. This was followed by a video call with her at 7.54am that lasted just over two minutes. The court heard there were further calls and messages with other contacts, including one regarding where he was to take his load in central London, followed by more attempts to reach Mrs Tomisa.
It was at 8.26am that she, having received his earlier messages, video called him and the fatal collision occurred. Mr Boulsfield said Tomisa's camera was recorded as being on at that time.
Mr McManus, who lived with his partner and their children in Ashford and coached local youth football, had been on his way to work. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tomisa, whose wife that day was due to have an operation, was also injured but tests for alcohol and drugs proved negative. Following his arrest, he initially denied a charge of causing death by dangerous driving, only to change his plea to guilty at a hearing last month shortly before standing trial. In court today were Mr McManus's fianc?e, Ashleigh Devlin, alongside his parents.
In victim impact statements read to the court, they described how their lives had been "completely sledgehammered" by his "sudden and preventable" death.
Jailing Tomisa, a professional lorry driver for 38 years and with no previous convictions, Judge Catherine Moore said his actions that day were not a momentary loss of attention but involved prolonged use of a phone in "a highly distracting" way. "Analysis of your phone showed that during the 56 minutes before the collision, there were multiple incoming and outgoing voice calls, messaging exchanges, messaging via Facebook Messenger, repeated camera activations consistent with video calling and there was active communication through a video call immediately before and at collison," she told him through an interpreter. "Those actions meant you were inevitably focusing on and interacting with the screen, engaging in a video call with your wife despite the fact you were driving a large vehicle on a motorway.
"It may well have been you were discussing a medical matter or a matter about which there was some anxiety. But that is no excuse.
"It is abundantly clear your entirely senseless actions meant your attention was distracted. You plainly assumed your driving would be unaffected by your mobile telephone use and that the rules somehow did not apply to you.
"You were not concentrating on the road. Your failure to do so had tragic and entirely avoidable consequences." Tomisa will have to serve two-thirds of his jail term before he will be released.
He was also banned from driving for 14 years and four months - to take account of his time in custody - and will be required to take an extended test before he can drive in the UK again. Judge Moore accepted that he had shown remorse, and that his acknowledgement of responsibility would last forever.
At the time of the fatal crash, Ms Devlin released a tribute to her partner of 15 years, describing herself as "heartbroken" at the loss of her "soulmate and best friend". She wrote: "Arran was our whole life and more.
He was the most wonderful dad to our two incredible children, and he was so proud of them both and loved them both so deeply." "Arran will be sorely missed by his entire family circle." Mr McManus, who was a former pupil of the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone, coached at Kennington Juniors FC.
In their statement, the club described him as "patient, thoughtful and inspiring" and someone who "embodied what it means to be a great coach, leader, and mentor".
They also started a fundraiser in support of his family.
More to follow