A "criminally irresponsible" truck driver has been banned for watching Battlestar Galactica on a laptop while veering all over the M6 motorway in his his 38-tonne truck.
Benjamin Trotman, 37, of The Hobbins, Bridgnorth, Shropshire, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to dangerous driving near Kendal in Cumbria in December last year.
He has now been banned for 15 months, given 225 hours community service and ordered to pay £546 costs at Penrith Magistrates' Court.
The father of two drive at 55mph for 25 miles, veering from the hard-shoulder to the middle lane, slowing down and speeding up as he followed the sci-fi action.
Another lorry driver, Brian Taylor, called the police after spotting Trotman's Poundstretcher lorry repeatedly driving across lanes. He pulled alongside and sounded his horn but his action had no effect.
Chairman of the bench John Findlay had said that "no one could complain" if he sent Trotman to prison, but instead decided on a community penalty.
He said: "You were so distracted by what you were watching that your driving fell far below the standard expected of a professional driver. It was criminally irresponsible and could have had appalling consequences."
Copyright © PA Business 2008
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Wednesday, 8 October 2008
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