Lorry driver admits "nodding off" before fatal Rocket crash

Jul 25 2008

Liverpool waterfront

A lorry driver suffering from sleep apnoea admitted nodding off at the wheel and causing a pile-up on the M62 in Merseyside which killed one man.

Toby Tweddell, 25, was killed when Colin Wrighton, 54, ploughed into a queue of stationary traffic in the slow lane of the M62 motorway in Merseyside, an inquest has heard.

Mr Tweddell’s Nissan Micra was crushed, and a total of nine vehicles were damaged on August 8 2006 at the Rocket Interchange.

Mr Tweddell, from Sale, Greater Manchester, died from multiple injuries.

Mr Wrighton told the inquest, held at the Coroner’s Court, St Helens Hospital, Merseyside, that he had been to see his doctor four months before the accident, complaining of tiredness.

The doctor did tests for diabetes, which came back negative, and it was not until after the crash that sleep apnoea was first considered.

The condition causes the upper airways to repeatedly close during sleep. Sufferers constantly wake up to breathe and are left tired the next day.

Mr Wrighton was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against him after his sleeping condition was revealed.

Merseyside Coroner Christopher Sumner adjourned the inquest to August 5 to consider his verdict.