A lorry driver killed a woman who was lying asleep after mistaking her for a ‘bin bag and duvet’. Alec Keiran fatally struck Nicole Cummings, 24, when she was sleeping rough outside the Shell garage in Everton, Liverpool, on August 10 last year.
The 52-year-old drove onto the pavement in his Volvo truck when he was delivering to Spar shops around Merseyside. He attempted to turn left from Scotland Road onto Wilbraham Street and into the petrol station forecourt at about 8.30am.
Speaking at Liverpool Crown Court on September 26, Prosecutor Philip Asprey said: “He knew this was to be a tight manoeuvre. The turn was more difficult because an Audi had parked on the pavement immediately on the side of the forecourt entrance, to the off-side of the defendant’s vehicle, and as he started to turn the defendant saw what he believed to be a bin bag and a folded duvet on the pavement to his near-side.
“On checking his mirror and avoiding the Audi and the shop itself, it’s clear the near side of the vehicle would cut across the pavement and over that which he had seen. The defendant informed officers he was aware he would be mounting the kerb and cutting across the pavement, and later said: ‘If it’s a wheelie bin or anything like that, it’s going to move if the trailer gets too close. It’s just going to move out of the way’.
“Tragically, that which the defendant had seen was not refuse, but the victim, Nicole Cummings. She was asleep on the ground and the rear wheels of the vehicle passed directly over her, causing catastrophic injuries.”
Nicole was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem ruled her cause of death was “multiple crush injuries to the neck, head and chest”, the Liverpool ECHO reports.
In a statement addressed to Keiran, Nicole’s heartbroken mum Vanessa Thompson said: “The day you took my baby girl away from me was the day my world stood still. Why did you do that? My other children are also forever broken and we’ll never get over what you did to us as a family.
“That day you broke me and us into a million pictures that we will never heal from. Nicole was my first daughter. She was my little bundle of joy and like any parent I wondered what she would be like when she grew up. I’ll never know now because you took that from me.
“I miss her smile, I miss our daily chats, and I miss her arms around me. Most of all we just miss having her in our lives. Our world without her is a dark and lonely place because of what you have done.”
Another driver, Robert Stewart, witnessed the terrible moment Keiran’s vehicle mounted the street where Nicole was sleeping. Mr Asprey said: “He was struck by how tight the turn was and he was expecting the lorry to stop. He could see Nicole on the pavement and what was about to happen. He forcefully sounded his horn, but to no avail, and he saw the wheels go over Nicole.”
Keiran, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving. The court heard the 53-year-old’s lorry was equipped with cameras, and if he had turned on an indicator as he turned, this would have brought up a clear image of Nicole sleeping on the ground.
He had also been given a risk assessment by his employer about the area, which warned: “Busy forecourt with cars and customers in the area. If in any doubt, get out of the vehicle and check the surrounding area.”
John Dye, defending, said: “In hindsight he would have got out of the vehicle. In hindsight he would have changed everything. He’s absolutely devastated. Devastated not for himself, but for what he has put the family through.
“He’s a man of good character. He was immediately remorseful for what happened, cooperative with police, a full, clean driving licence. It’s indicative how well he’s thought of that he no longer drives for this company – he hasn’t driven since this happened – but has kept on there in a different role.
Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: “Nicole Cummings was only 24. She was, at the time, going through a difficult phase in her short life. She clearly had a problem with drugs and she was homeless and sleeping rough. None of these issues makes her life any less valuable or her death any less tragic.
“She was a loved sister, daughter and granddaughter. She will be sorely missed by her siblings, parents and grandparents, from whom I have heard moving statements speaking of their devastation of her loss.” He sentenced Keiran, of Daisy Meadow in Bamber Bridge, to one year in prison, and disqualified him from driving for a year.
Nicole’s dad Christopher Cummings said: “My only daughter was taken away from me and I’ll never see her again. From the minute we became aware something had happened to Nicole, our lives had been irreversibly changed and damaged. Since the day I was told Nicole had been killed by a lorry, my world fell apart. The news sent me spiralling into a very dark place. I couldn’t believe my baby girl was gone.”
He said Nicole had moved to Liverpool and that her family had no idea she was sleeping rough until the day she was killed. The 24-year-old, whose nickname was “Nicky Noodles”, was remembered by her family for her kindness, generosity and love of music and art.
Christopher said: “12 months before Nicole died, she was in hospital for some time, quite poorly. I was with her almost every day. While there, she made me a Father’s Day card, and even though she was in a lot of pain she still managed to make it for me. This card means so much more to me now as it’s the last card I ever had from her.
“I miss my daughter so much and nothing will change that. Will the impact of losing her ever get easier? Only time will tell. It’s been a year now, and it still feels like yesterday.”
Her grandma Julia Cummings said: “The day our son told us Nicole had died, we felt numb. We just couldn’t take it in. We pray she never felt anything, to think otherwise is unbearable. The pain doesn’t go away. You think about her from first thing in the morning until last thing at night, when you go to bed with tears running down your face. There are just memories of Nicole now.”
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