A van driver was accused of being ‘on eBay’ around the time he killed a road worker.
January 10, 2015
Exeter Crown Court heard that Anthony Tompkins was driving
at 55 mph on the A361 in north Devon when he veered into highways workers.
Steven Tolley, 48, was hit by the wing mirror of the van
inside protective cones and suffered head injuries.
Tolley, from Tiverton, was thrown into the air by the force
of the impact and died six days later in Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.
Other road workers were also injured after jumping out of
the way of the van.
Tompkins, 45, has pleaded not guilty to causing death by
dangerous driving.
The BBC
reported that Richard Posner, prosecuting, said records showed Tompkins used
his phone four times in the half hour before the accident, with a six minute
internet session around the time of the collision at approximately 11:00 GMT on
29 January 2013.
Posner said Mr Tompkins supplemented his income as a driver
by buying and selling furniture on the online auction site eBay.
He said: “There is compelling evidence that he accessed
eBay, a site which he visits to buy furniture, and as a consequence of his
behaviour he caused the death of Mr Tolley. That is the irresistible conclusion
we invite the jury to reach.”
The prosecution said a police technology expert had set up a
Galaxy Mobile telephone identical to the one owned by Tompkins with the same
eBay app and found it was not possible for it to be activated unwittingly.
The court heard Tompkins, of Saltash, Cornwall, claims he
was suffering from a condition called sleep apnoea which caused him to have a
“mini-sleep” at the time of the crash.
The trial continues