Bolton: 'Careless driving' did not cause grandad's death, defence argues

Clive Atkinson, 65, died after being crushed under the wheel of a Travis Perkins lorry driven by Kevin McManus on Back Bradford Street on November 28, 2020.

Now on trial at Bolton Crown Court, McManus’s defence has that, though they accept the lorry collision caused the death, it was not caused by careless driving.

Suzanne Hargreaves, defending, said: “It was accepted that if Mr McManus looked in one mirror, he could have missed Mr Atkinson if he was in view of the other mirrors.”

Clive Atkinson was a father and grandfather

She argued that the position of the mirrors meant that Mr Atkinson could still have been caught in a blind spot when McManus started to move and that the noise should have meant the grandfather would have heard in time to get out of the way.

The court heard further expert witness testimony from Police Sergeant Adrian Pye who told the jury that Mr Atkinson did not appear to react to noise made by the lorry as it started to move.

He said: “As the lorry began to move their would inevitable have been an increase in engine noise which should have alerted Mr Atkinson that the lorry was going to move.”

The incident happened on Back Bradford Street

But he had previously told the court how, having stopped for just 1.25 seconds, he did not believe McManus had allowed himself enough time to properly check his mirrors before making the fatal move that, prosecutor Andrew Macintosh argues, ended in Mr Atkinson’s death.

Further expert testimony was provided by collision investigator David Loat who showed the jury a series of photographs outlining the position of the vehicles and layout of the roads.

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At the time of the incident, McManus had been delivering sand to Mr Atkinson’s landlord Waheed Khalid.

The grandfather had been sat in a parked van when the lorry arrived, got out and was in front of the vehicle before McManus started up again after talking to Mr Khalid.

This was when Mr Atkinson was struck by the lorry.

The trial continues.