truck

A LORRY driver who killed a heavily pregnant nurse in a horror crash has been jailed for more than two-and-a-half years.

Trevor Norgate was driving an HGV when it veered off the M8 motorway and into the hard shoulder^[1] where Evelyn Brown, 41, had stopped her car.

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Truck driver Trevor Norgate outside courtCredit: Credit: Mike Gibbons

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Evelyn was expecting her third child when she was killedCredit: Credit: Gofundme

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Norgate was handed two-and-a-half years behind bars at the High Court in EdinburghCredit: credit: alamy

Evelyn was 34 weeks pregnant at the time of the incident, which occurred at 9.08am on December 18, 2023.

After continuing in the hard shoulder for some 88 metres, the truck ploughed into Evelyn’s parked car^[2], killing her and her unborn baby.

Norgate’s lawyer said his client had been “momentarily distracted for seven or eight seconds at most” prior to the collision.

The 58-year-old had previously plead guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

High Court in Edinburgh^[3] on Friday, judge Lord Armstrong told him that as a result of his actions, “two lives have been lost”.

He also said the lives of Evelyn’s close relatives had been “materially impacted in significantly detrimental ways”.

He added: “The fact remains this is a very serious matter.

“No sentence I can impose can in any sense be a measure of the value of the lives that have been lost, nor provide a comfort to the family whose own lives have been devastated as a result.

“I have read and take into account victim impact statements by Ms Brown’s mother and stepsister, which are eloquent in their terms, explaining the extent of their tragic loss and their difficulties in coming to terms with it.

“As the result of your actions, their lives have been changed radically for the worse.”

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He acknowledged the fact Norgate had “accepted responsibility” for his actions at an early stage, and that it was he who called 999 following the incident^[4].

However he said he had “no alternative” but to impose a prison term, and sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison.

He also disqualified Norgate from driving for four years and eight months, and said he would have to complete an extended driving test before being allowed to drive again.

Norgate, dressed in a blue fleece and purple tracksuit bottoms, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.

Norgate’s lawyer David Nicolson KC said his client was “utterly devastated” by what happened, and that he will “never, ever get over what he did on this particular morning”^[5].

He added his client had watched footage of the incident but remains “absolutely at a loss” as to how he become “distracted” for the seven or eight seconds it took for the lorry to collide with Evelyn’s car.

It emerged Norgate, of Bellshill, Lanarkshire^[6], already had six points on his licence^[7] at the time for using a mobile phone^[8] while on the road.

Evelyn was born in Nigeria and moved to the UK in 2015.

She already had two young children at the time of the crash.

She worked as an agency nurse for a company called Medline and lived with her wheelchair-bound mother.

She had not long finished a 12-hour shift at East Lothian Community Hospital in Haddington when tragedy struck that morning.

baby shower^[9] proudly showing off her bump.

References

1. ^{^} veered off the M8 motorway and into the hard shoulder (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
2. ^{^} ploughed into Evelyn’s parked car (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
3. ^{^} High Court in Edinburgh (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
4. ^{^} he who called 999 following the incident (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
5. ^{^} “never, ever get over what he did on this particular morning” (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Lanarkshire (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
7. ^{^} licence (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
8. ^{^} mobile phone (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)
9. ^{^} baby shower (www.thescottishsun.co.uk)