Five years for Selby driver

The motorist who caused the Selby train crash in which 10 people died was jailed for five years today.

Gary Hart, 37, who arrived at Leeds Crown Court shaven-headed and looking gaunt, was found guilty last month of 10 counts of causing death by dangerous driving after falling asleep at the wheel.

He showed no emotion as he was sentenced. He could have got 10 years on each count. He was also disqualified from driving for five years.

Mr Justice Mackay said: "Inevitably, whatever sentence I pass, some are going to divide it by 10 and say that is x amount per life. I must not myself use that."

The judge told Hart that the crash was "the worst driving related incident in the UK in recent years".

He added: "I accept neither you nor anyone else could have foreseen what happened. But you were not just a cause of it in my judgment. You were not a victim as you have appeared at times in some interviews and in evidence. You were the cause of it. I cannot shut my eyes to the extent of the devastation you have caused.

"I accept you will live with the consequences of what you did that day for the rest of your life, but so will, to a much greater extent, the relatives of the 10 men who died, and the survivors."

One of the surviving train drivers, Andy Hill, said outside court: "I'm not very happy. I thought it would be longer."

Julie Shakespeare, a mother-offour who lost her husband Robert, had called for him to serve the maximum sentence. She said: "He should get 10 years at least.

"My husband was an innocent victim in this terrible tragedy. It has been a living nightmare." She added: "But no court case can bring him back."

Mary Dunn, widow of freight train driver Stephen Dunn, 39, who left two sons, said: "Initially I had sympathy for Hart. I don't feel he is evil but I don't have sympathy now because I so believe he fell asleep at the wheel. He has not shown any compassion to the victims or any sign of remorse. If he had apologised it would be an acknowledgement of what happened."

A close friend said Hart may appeal against the sentence.

Hart, a father of four daughters from Strubby, Lincolnshire, fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover on the M62 near Selby in North Yorkshire last February.

His car careered into the path of a GNER express train which was derailed and hit a freight train coming the other way head on. Four train staff and six passengers died and 76 people were injured.

The judge described the collision as "like the Titanic converging on the iceberg".

The construction contractor admitted having less than an hour's sleep in the previous 24 after talking all night on the phone to Kristeen Panter who he knew through an internet dating agency.

Sleep expert Professor James Horne told the court that Hart must have known he was falling asleep. However he made no attempt to stop as he drove his Land Rover and trailer loaded with an estate car.