A lorry driver who admitted causing the death of a Colchester father by crashing into his road maintenance vehicle has been jailed for 30 months.

Victim Paul Scrutton was thrown through the air "like a rag doll" by the force of the crash and into the path of a Land Rover, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Mark Dymond, 34, of Shelley Close, Huntingdon, had previously admitted causing Mr Scrutton's death by dangerous driving.

Motorway maintenance worker Mr Scrutton, 44, of Cyril Child Close, Greenstead, had been working on the A14 at Tostock in west Suffolk on May 25 last year.

He had been repairing a culvert with colleagues and at about 3pm the warning cones behind their works vehicle were being collected when the accident happened.

Mr Scrutton was reversing the works lorry while a colleague walked along picking up the cones. Dymond then came along in an articulated lorry and ran into the works lorry.

Max Hill, prosecuting, said Mr Scrutton was thrown through the windscreen "like a rag doll".

Dymond, who suffered serious damage to his hips in the crash, later said he could not remember the last two miles of his journey.

Ian Lawrie, mitigating, said on behalf of Dymond he expressed very profound regret about what had happened.

Judge John Devaux said other people had seen what was happening with the cone collection, but Dymond, for some reason, had not, whether it was through inattention or tiredness.

The judge told Dymond he was getting a "substantial reduction" in his sentence because of the serious injuries he received.

As well as the two-and-a-half year jail sentence, the judge imposed a six-year driving ban and ordered Dymond to take an extended test before he returns to driving.

Members of Mr Scrutton's family who had been in court declined to comment.

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