A34 crash lorry driver jailed for killing family while on phone

A motorist who smashed into a family's car while looking at his mobile phone has been jailed for 10 years for killing a mother and three children.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, died in the crash on the A34, near Newbury in Berkshire, on August 10.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker ploughed into the family's stationary car at 50mph while scrolling through music on his mobile phone.

Image Caption:Tomasz Kroker was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into the family's car

Their car was shunted underneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle and crushed to a third of its size.

The family, from Bedfordshire, who were making their way home from a camping holiday in Devon, were killed instantly.

Kroker, from Andover in Hampshire, broke down at the scene, crying and saying to himself: "I've killed them."

But he also tried to claim his brakes had failed, telling officers the traffic in front of him "just stopped - I hit my brakes but just couldn't stop".

Image Caption:Tracy Houghton died in the crash with her two sons and stepdaughter

The court heard the 30-year-old was so distracted by his phone he barely looked at the road for almost a kilometre.

Sentencing Kroker on Monday at Reading Crown Court, Judge Maura McGowan told him his attention to the road was so poor, he "might as well have had his eyes closed".

Just an hour before the pile-up he had signed a declaration to his employer, promising he would not use his phone at the wheel.

Image Caption:Brothers Josh, 11, and 13-year-old Ethan Houghton

His truck smashed into a stationary queue of two lorries and four smaller vehicles which were stuck behind a slow-moving articulated lorry near the villages of East and West Ilsley at around 5.10pm.

A man was seriously injured and four other people hurt in the crash.

Dash-cam footage showed Kroker using his phone less than a second before impact, looking up with sudden horror on his face.

His lorry ploughed into a Mazda which was thrown onto its roof, before smashing into a Citroen driven by Ms Houghton's partner Mark Goldsmith, who was with his 13-year-old son Jake.

Their car was shunted into Ms Houghton's Vauxhall Corsa.

Image Caption:The crash scene after Kroker caused the pile-up

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said: "It is a particularly distressing feature that the two surviving members of the family were in the car behind, and a 13-year-old boy was forced to witness at close range the deaths of four members of close family."

Aimee's mother Kate Goldsmith said the prison term "does not do justice to the crime committed".

In a family statement outside the court, she said Kroker's actions turned his lorry into a "lethal weapon".

"He was so distracted, he made no attempt to slow down. The sentence of 10 years in prison will not ease our pain and suffering," she said.

A34 crash lorry driver jailed for killing family while on phone

A motorist who smashed into a family's car while looking at his mobile phone has been jailed for 10 years for killing a mother and three children.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, died in the crash on the A34, near Newbury in Berkshire, on August 10.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker ploughed into the family's stationary car at 50mph while scrolling through music on his mobile phone.

Image Caption:Tomasz Kroker was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into the family's car

Their car was shunted underneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle and crushed to a third of its size.

The family, from Bedfordshire, who were making their way home from a camping holiday in Devon, were killed instantly.

Kroker, from Andover in Hampshire, broke down at the scene, crying and saying to himself: "I've killed them."

But he also tried to claim his brakes had failed, telling officers the traffic in front of him "just stopped - I hit my brakes but just couldn't stop".

Image Caption:Tracy Houghton died in the crash with her two sons and stepdaughter

The court heard the 30-year-old was so distracted by his phone he barely looked at the road for almost a kilometre.

Sentencing Kroker on Monday at Reading Crown Court, Judge Maura McGowan told him his attention to the road was so poor, he "might as well have had his eyes closed".

Just an hour before the pile-up he had signed a declaration to his employer, promising he would not use his phone at the wheel.

Image Caption:Brothers Josh, 11, and 13-year-old Ethan Houghton

His truck smashed into a stationary queue of two lorries and four smaller vehicles which were stuck behind a slow-moving articulated lorry near the villages of East and West Ilsley at around 5.10pm.

A man was seriously injured and four other people hurt in the crash.

Dash-cam footage showed Kroker using his phone less than a second before impact, looking up with sudden horror on his face.

His lorry ploughed into a Mazda which was thrown onto its roof, before smashing into a Citroen driven by Ms Houghton's partner Mark Goldsmith, who was with his 13-year-old son Jake.

Their car was shunted into Ms Houghton's Vauxhall Corsa.

Image Caption:The crash scene after Kroker caused the pile-up

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said: "It is a particularly distressing feature that the two surviving members of the family were in the car behind, and a 13-year-old boy was forced to witness at close range the deaths of four members of close family."

Aimee's mother Kate Goldsmith said the prison term "does not do justice to the crime committed".

In a family statement outside the court, she said Kroker's actions turned his lorry into a "lethal weapon".

"He was so distracted, he made no attempt to slow down. The sentence of 10 years in prison will not ease our pain and suffering," she said.

A34 crash lorry driver jailed for killing family while on phone

A motorist who smashed into a family's car while looking at his mobile phone has been jailed for 10 years for killing a mother and three children.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, died in the crash on the A34, near Newbury in Berkshire, on August 10.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker ploughed into the family's stationary car at 50mph while scrolling through music on his mobile phone.

Image Caption:Tomasz Kroker was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into the family's car

Their car was shunted underneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle and crushed to a third of its size.

The family, from Bedfordshire, who were making their way home from a camping holiday in Devon, were killed instantly.

Kroker, from Andover in Hampshire, broke down at the scene, crying and saying to himself: "I've killed them."

But he also tried to claim his brakes had failed, telling officers the traffic in front of him "just stopped - I hit my brakes but just couldn't stop".

Image Caption:Tracy Houghton died in the crash with her two sons and stepdaughter

The court heard the 30-year-old was so distracted by his phone he barely looked at the road for almost a kilometre.

Sentencing Kroker on Monday at Reading Crown Court, Judge Maura McGowan told him his attention to the road was so poor, he "might as well have had his eyes closed".

Just an hour before the pile-up he had signed a declaration to his employer, promising he would not use his phone at the wheel.

Image Caption:Brothers Josh, 11, and 13-year-old Ethan Houghton

His truck smashed into a stationary queue of two lorries and four smaller vehicles which were stuck behind a slow-moving articulated lorry near the villages of East and West Ilsley at around 5.10pm.

A man was seriously injured and four other people hurt in the crash.

Dash-cam footage showed Kroker using his phone less than a second before impact, looking up with sudden horror on his face.

His lorry ploughed into a Mazda which was thrown onto its roof, before smashing into a Citroen driven by Ms Houghton's partner Mark Goldsmith, who was with his 13-year-old son Jake.

Their car was shunted into Ms Houghton's Vauxhall Corsa.

Image Caption:The crash scene after Kroker caused the pile-up

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said: "It is a particularly distressing feature that the two surviving members of the family were in the car behind, and a 13-year-old boy was forced to witness at close range the deaths of four members of close family."

Aimee's mother Kate Goldsmith said the prison term "does not do justice to the crime committed".

In a family statement outside the court, she said Kroker's actions turned his lorry into a "lethal weapon".

"He was so distracted, he made no attempt to slow down. The sentence of 10 years in prison will not ease our pain and suffering," she said.

A34 crash lorry driver jailed for killing family while on phone

A motorist who smashed into a family's car while looking at his mobile phone has been jailed for 10 years for killing a mother and three children.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, died in the crash on the A34, near Newbury in Berkshire, on August 10.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker ploughed into the family's stationary car at 50mph while scrolling through music on his mobile phone.

Image Caption:Tomasz Kroker was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into the family's car

Their car was shunted underneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle and crushed to a third of its size.

The family, from Bedfordshire, who were making their way home from a camping holiday in Devon, were killed instantly.

Kroker, from Andover in Hampshire, broke down at the scene, crying and saying to himself: "I've killed them."

But he also tried to claim his brakes had failed, telling officers the traffic in front of him "just stopped - I hit my brakes but just couldn't stop".

Image Caption:Tracy Houghton died in the crash with her two sons and stepdaughter

The court heard the 30-year-old was so distracted by his phone he barely looked at the road for almost a kilometre.

Sentencing Kroker on Monday at Reading Crown Court, Judge Maura McGowan told him his attention to the road was so poor, he "might as well have had his eyes closed".

Just an hour before the pile-up he had signed a declaration to his employer, promising he would not use his phone at the wheel.

Image Caption:Brothers Josh, 11, and 13-year-old Ethan Houghton

His truck smashed into a stationary queue of two lorries and four smaller vehicles which were stuck behind a slow-moving articulated lorry near the villages of East and West Ilsley at around 5.10pm.

A man was seriously injured and four other people hurt in the crash.

Dash-cam footage showed Kroker using his phone less than a second before impact, looking up with sudden horror on his face.

His lorry ploughed into a Mazda which was thrown onto its roof, before smashing into a Citroen driven by Ms Houghton's partner Mark Goldsmith, who was with his 13-year-old son Jake.

Their car was shunted into Ms Houghton's Vauxhall Corsa.

Image Caption:The crash scene after Kroker caused the pile-up

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said: "It is a particularly distressing feature that the two surviving members of the family were in the car behind, and a 13-year-old boy was forced to witness at close range the deaths of four members of close family."

Aimee's mother Kate Goldsmith said the prison term "does not do justice to the crime committed".

In a family statement outside the court, she said Kroker's actions turned his lorry into a "lethal weapon".

"He was so distracted, he made no attempt to slow down. The sentence of 10 years in prison will not ease our pain and suffering," she said.

A34 crash lorry driver jailed for killing family while on phone

A motorist who smashed into a family's car while looking at his mobile phone has been jailed for 10 years for killing a mother and three children.

Tracy Houghton, 45, her sons Ethan, 13, and Josh, 11, and stepdaughter Aimee Goldsmith, also 11, died in the crash on the A34, near Newbury in Berkshire, on August 10.

Lorry driver Tomasz Kroker ploughed into the family's stationary car at 50mph while scrolling through music on his mobile phone.

Image Caption:Tomasz Kroker was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into the family's car

Their car was shunted underneath the back of a heavy goods vehicle and crushed to a third of its size.

The family, from Bedfordshire, who were making their way home from a camping holiday in Devon, were killed instantly.

Kroker, from Andover in Hampshire, broke down at the scene, crying and saying to himself: "I've killed them."

But he also tried to claim his brakes had failed, telling officers the traffic in front of him "just stopped - I hit my brakes but just couldn't stop".

Image Caption:Tracy Houghton died in the crash with her two sons and stepdaughter

The court heard the 30-year-old was so distracted by his phone he barely looked at the road for almost a kilometre.

Sentencing Kroker on Monday at Reading Crown Court, Judge Maura McGowan told him his attention to the road was so poor, he "might as well have had his eyes closed".

Just an hour before the pile-up he had signed a declaration to his employer, promising he would not use his phone at the wheel.

Image Caption:Brothers Josh, 11, and 13-year-old Ethan Houghton

His truck smashed into a stationary queue of two lorries and four smaller vehicles which were stuck behind a slow-moving articulated lorry near the villages of East and West Ilsley at around 5.10pm.

A man was seriously injured and four other people hurt in the crash.

Dash-cam footage showed Kroker using his phone less than a second before impact, looking up with sudden horror on his face.

His lorry ploughed into a Mazda which was thrown onto its roof, before smashing into a Citroen driven by Ms Houghton's partner Mark Goldsmith, who was with his 13-year-old son Jake.

Their car was shunted into Ms Houghton's Vauxhall Corsa.

Image Caption:The crash scene after Kroker caused the pile-up

Prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said: "It is a particularly distressing feature that the two surviving members of the family were in the car behind, and a 13-year-old boy was forced to witness at close range the deaths of four members of close family."

Aimee's mother Kate Goldsmith said the prison term "does not do justice to the crime committed".

In a family statement outside the court, she said Kroker's actions turned his lorry into a "lethal weapon".

"He was so distracted, he made no attempt to slow down. The sentence of 10 years in prison will not ease our pain and suffering," she said.

Former Farage aide Raheem Kassam pulls out of UKIP leadership race

Raheem Kassam, a former aide to Nigel Farage, has dropped out of the race to become the next leader of UKIP.

In a statement, Mr Kassam said he had come to realise "the path to victory is too narrow" and urged his backers to support former London mayoral candidate Peter Whittle.

He revealed he could not raise enough money for his leadership bid to be any more than a digital campaign based in Westminster, and also complained of "disgraceful treatment by the media".

Mr Kassam said not appearing at campaign events around the country would have made him a hypocrite, "given how much I criticise the establishment for ignoring the country".

As well as directing his ire at the media, Mr Kassam accused the UKIP hierarchy of treating the leadership election "like a coronation".

He said he had complained to UKIP chariman Paul Oakden about MEPs using party databases to "effectively campaign against me", insisting it was "ostensibly against the rules".

Mr Kassam's announcement comes three days after he launched his campaign in a Westminster pub and with nominations for the party leadership set to close at noon.

He had the backing of party donor Arron Banks, and Sky's Beth Rigby said a party source told her Mr Banks had changed his mind about who to support, instead opting for Mr Whittle.

Turkey sacks 10,000 civil servants, shuts media outlets

Turkey has dismissed another 10,000 civil servants and closed 15 more media outlets over suspected links with "terrorist organisations" and US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed coup.

More than 100,000 people have already been sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested since the July coup attempt, in an unprecedented crackdown the government says is necessary to root out all coup supporters from the state apparatus.

Thousands more academics, teachers, health workers, prison guards and forensics experts were among the latest to be removed from their posts through two new executive decrees issued late on Saturday.

Opposition parties denounced the continued crackdown, which has also raised concerns over the functioning of the state.

"What the government and [President Tayyip] Erdogan are doing right now is a direct coup against the rule of law and democracy," Sezgin Tanrikulu, an MP from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said in a Periscope broadcast posted on Twitter.

Fifteen more newspapers, wires, and magazines that report from the largely Kurdish southeast were shuttered, bringing the total number of media organisations closed to nearly 160.

In another move, the ability of universities to elect their own rectors was also abolished. President Erdogan will now directly appoint nominees.

The extent of the crackdown has worried rights groups and many of Turkey's Western allies, who fear Erdogan is using emergency rule to eradicate dissent. The government said its actions are justified following the coup attempt on July 15, when more than 240 people died.

Erdogan has said authorities need more time to wipe out the threat posed by the coup plotters, as well as Kurdish armed groups that have waged a 32-year insurgency that has killed about 40,000 people.