Truck driver shopping online while driving through a red light killing a man jailed.
Florin Solomon, 29, was using his cell phone while driving on the A580 East Lancashire Road last January
His car a Scania HGV struck a Toyota Corolla driven by Mark Byrne, 58, who perished at the location.
Pleading guilty for causing death by dangerous driving, Solomon incarcerated for just a solitary four years by the Manchester Crown Court judge Graeme Smith.
The victim, Mr Byrne, from Warrington, had been made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2003 for his ten years of charitable work for children involved in the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.
He also worked in Whitehall as a private soldier before being posted to Germany in the 1990s. He later came back to the United Kingdom (UK) as a civil servant at the Ministry of Defence (MOD).
The court also heard the father-of-three and grandfather had planned to foster children with his wife during their retirement.
'Stupidity and recklessness.'
Mr Byrne was returning home from hospital together with his spouse Julie, at the point in time of the crash.
Initially, Romanian national Solomon informed police he drove through the traffic lights when they were at amber and claimed Mr Byrne turned into his path at the junction with Atherleigh Way in Leigh.
However, footage of the collision revealed the lights were red for a minimum of eight seconds before the crash, and Mr Byrne drove entirely lawfully and was entirely at no fault
Examination of Solomon's cellphone by police examiners also refuted his assertion he had placed an order on the online shopping site Amazon when stopped at a junction.
In a victim personal declaration, Mrs Byrne, who was gravely injured in the crash, said she had lost her "soulmate" and "getting through each day is a task." she still suffers physical pain and nightmares.
While sentencing, Judge Graeme Smith informed Solomon: "It has been accepted that it was your stupidity and recklessness that led to the accident."
Rebecca Caulfield, defending, said her client was "distraught" and "full of remorse".
Solomon, of Lansdowne Walk, Worcester, was also disqualified from driving for five years and 11 months.
Authors note: While I usually do not offer any opinion on legal sentencing. However, I feel that the sentence handed down to Solomon by the judge was ridiculous.
Four years for what can only be called a heinous crime is not enough—anyone who uses a cellphone while driving is insane, and they should be locked up, and the keys for his cell cast into the oceans.
My thoughts and prayers are for the victims family
Steve Simmonds
Credits and sources: BBC.UK Photograph generously supplied by Melissa Mjeon member of Unsplash.Com Canada and the worlds top photo-sharing website