Texting lorry driver jailed for killing police officer in crash

A lorry driver who was using a mobile phone while driving has been jailed for six years after he killed an off-duty police officer.

Danny Warby, 28, from Runcton Holme near King’s Lynn was sentenced at Huntingdon Law Court, having previously been found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving in connection with the death of mother-of-two Sharon Garrett.

He was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.

Click below to watch a court report from ITV News Anglia's Matthew Hudson

During the seven day trial in August, the court heard Warby had only been driving for two minutes prior to the collision but had been using his mobile phone and responded to a text message.

He was also breaking the speed limit as he drove a lorry along the A141 at Wyton in Cambridgeshire in June 2014.

Warby’s lorry was in collision with the Sharon Garrett's Renault Clio as well as another car and lorry.

In a statement, the family of Sharon Garrett said: “The loss of Sharon has been the most devastating event in the life of our family. It has had an impact on so many people, and for so many reasons."

Detective Constable Garrett, 48, joined Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1991.

She served in a number of roles across the force, most recently investigating complex fraud offences in the Economic Crime Unit.

Her family said: “No sentencing can ever bring back Sharon, but it is our hope that the sentence passed today will remind others that the simple act of using a mobile phone whilst driving can have such devastating consequences.”