A lorry driver caused a crash on the M1, hitting a car and killing two people, Leicester Crown court heard yesterday.

The driver of the lorry, 75-year-old Mr John Leadenham, crashed in to the rear of Paul and Doreen Tomlinson’s vehicle on the M1 in October 2008. Their car was then crushed against another lorry.

Mr Leadenham is accused of braking too late on the motorway having failed to note traffic braking ahead because of an accident. He braked at 17 metres before the queue of vehicles and came to a halt at 68 metres. Mr Leadenham is alleged to have told officers at the scene that he was unable to brake in time because cars pulled in front of him. However, analysis of CCTV has indicated that all cars remained in the same lanes in the seconds leading up to the crash.
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A report in to a disaster involving the 1994 Chinook helicopter crash has found that the crash may have been caused by faulty computer software. The incident was originally believed to have occurred as the result of gross negligence by the vehicle’s two pilots. The incident resulted in the death of all 29 people on board when the helicopter crashed during fog on the Mull of Kintyre.

Now it has emerged that an internal Ministry of Defence report, written just nine months prior to the incident, identified the software as “positively dangerous”.  The report alleges that the deficiencies in the software meant that the pilot’s control of the engines could not be assured.

The official RAF enquiry indicated that the crash was a result of the negligence of the two pilots of the helicopter but this latest report adds to a growing amount of evidence suggesting otherwise. Another report, written on the day of the accident, stated that it was imperative that the RAF cease operations with the Chinook helicopter and also the helicopter test pilot, Squadron Leader Robert Burke, has indicated he felt that he believed the RAF rushed the machine in to use knowing that it was dangerous.
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Doctors in Belgium are to re-examine dozens of coma patients following the case of Rom Houben. Mr Houben lay imprisoned in his own body for over two decades before doctors in the department  of Neurology at Liege University hospital discovered through a PET scan that he was conscious and had an ”almost normal” level of brain activity.

According to the Guardian, Mr Houben was believed to be in a vegetative state following a car crash which occurred in 1983 and doctors told his family that he could hear and feel nothing. Now Mr Houben is able to communicate following physiotherapy on his finger, using a touch screen attached to his wheelchair. This does appear to be the limit of his recovery but his mother, Mrs Fina Houben, having already campaigned for 26 years to get her son’s consciousness recognised, refuses to concede that this is it, stating “We continue to search and search”.

Mr Houben’s case is exceptionally rare and there is apparently great difficulty in distinguishing using current technology between minimal levels of consciousness and a vegetative state. Indeed, it was only because of Mr Houben’s level of brain activity that his condition was discovered.
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I hope everybody had a very merry Christmas and a happy new year! And I hope you all took the advice to stay safe over the festive period; particularly with the seemingly continuing severe weather many parts of the UK are still experiencing.

The dream of a white Christmas came true for many this year, which was a welcome sight despite the severe weather we have faced over the last month. On a similar note, according to one amazing BBC report, one group of new year celebrators were trapped in the UK’s highest pub (statistically, above sea level) for a further two nights after they were snowed in on New Years Eve! (source).

And on the subject again of the weather, news reports are advising that the weather warnings are continuing and we are possibly set to see some bad weather well in to January, with the warnings to motorists still being issued as temperatures could be set to drop as low as 15 degrees Celsius (source). According to Sky News reports, seven people were fatally injured as a result of the horrific weather in the UK in December. So the advice to stay safe and take extra care on the roads is still required!
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I certainly am! In fact, the snow that arrived over the past week was a welcome festive gift for many (all be it a little early!). That was until a little snow turned in to a huge “blizzard” of sorts for many parts of the country, causing commuters havoc and holiday-makers a nightmare!

For many parts of the country we are now at that horrible icy state; where the snow has mostly melted and all that remains is a sheet of dangerous glassy ice lining the pavements and some roads. But over the last week we have seen news flash after news flash of the chaos the weather has caused.
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Justice Secretary Jack Straw has called for an increase to the maximum sentence for dangerous driving. Currently the offence carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment but under Mr Straw’s proposals that could increase to five.

According to the BBC, the proposals follow a campaign by the parents of toddler Cerys Edwards. Cerys was aged just 11 months when she was struck down by a car travelling more than 70 mph in a 30 mph zone. The driver was sentenced to two years for his crime but served just six months.
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The super Swedish furniture company Ikea has announced it is recalling a children’s high chair following reports that the chair is a potential danger to children using it, Sky News has reported (source).

According to the report, the locks securing the seat on the “Leopard Chair” can give way, leading to a child falling through frame. It is believed that so far one child has already become a victim of the seat, sustaining bruises to legs after falling through the frame. There are also fears children could choke on the detached locks.

The issue caught the attention of Ikea following 11 reports of the defective snap locks, including the incident above of the child that was injured, and a second incident whereby a detached snap lock was found in a child’s mouth, but was lucky retracted before any damage was done – so the fears are real!
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The Government is to give £20 million to victims of thalidomide and will apologise for their suffering.

According to Sky news, the Department of Health intends on paying the money to the Thalidomide Trust over a period of three years.

Thalidomide is a drug that was provided to pregnant women in the 1950s and 60s as a treatment for morning sickness or insomnia. Unfortunately the drug was found to have disastrous side effects, including limb malformation and defects. There are 463 surviving victims of the drug in the UK and the money will provide much needed financial security for thalidomide victims. The money will go towards providing victims with the adaptations that they require in their everyday lives, be these wheelchairs or car adaptations or even alterations to houses.
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Well we are still in the midst of the snow storm that’s hit the UK causing havoc for travellers and commuters, as well as hitting utility services with power outs in the worst hit areas. And there’s one story that’s been standing out since Friday and over the weekend.

According to BBC reports (source) and a healthy plastering of the story on the telly, more than 2000 people were trapped inside the channel tunnel for hours as five trains broke down due to the freezing cold causing electrical malfunctions. Some passengers were stuck on trains in sidings at Folkston for more than seven hours, and one commuter’s 2 hour 20 minute journey from Paris turned in to 16 hours of hell!

The lack of organisation amongst the Eurostar staff has been heavily criticised as passengers stuck for hours in the tunnel were exhausted, hungry, without adequate toilet facilities, and cold whilst transfers were arranged for passengers to be evacuated from the broken down trains. According to a TV interview with some passengers that were caught up in the breakdowns, they were “treated like animals” with many staff appearing not even to speak English.
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It seems buses aren’t having a great deal of luck at the moment, following on from my recent article about the bus that went a “bridge too far”; ripping the roof off due to a low bridge. The Mirror has reported of another incident involving a double decker bus in London! (source).

Passengers had to be cut free by the fire service after they became trapped in an overturned bus following a collision with a lorry. The driver of the bus as well as four other people were seriously hurt in the incident which occurred earlier this week during the 8:30am rush hour traffic. Three passengers had to be cut free by emergency services, and a further 13 people required hospital treatment.

A full investigation will be launched by Transport for London, with police enquires ongoing following the arrest of the male lorry driver whom is believed to remain in police custody. The London Ambulance service is said to have taken a 27 year old female and a 30 year old male to St George’s Hospital as a “priority”, and another 30 year old male also being treated as a “priority” was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
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