UK court gives driver staring at mobile 10 years in crash

LONDON – A British court has set a 10-year prison sentence for a truck driver who smashed into a car and killed four people moments after scrolling through music on his mobile phone.

The driver, 30-year-old Tomasz Kroker, had pleaded guilty at Reading Crown Court to four counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of causing serious injury.

Judge Maura McGowan said Monday that Kroker’s attention had been so poor that he “might as well have had his eyes closed.”

Tracey Houghton, 45; her sons, Ethan Houghton, 13, and Josh Houghton, 11; and her stepdaughter, Aimee Goldsmith, 11, were killed in the Aug. 10 crash. Another person was seriously injured.

The accident took place near the villages of East Ilsley and West Ilsley, west of London.

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