A HEARTBROKEN family has spoken out after a Sainsbury’s lorry driver pleaded guilty to the death of a “loving grandfather”.
Stephen Gibbons, 61 from Camberley died after he was struck by a Sainsbury's lorry on the A322 Bagshot Road in Bracknell on August 4 2018.
His bereaved brother Alan Gibbons told the News about how his brother's death “left a massive hole in everyone’s lives”.
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He said: “It has absolutely destroyed the family. Nothing is going to bring him back. It has wrecked our lives and it sent my mum to her grave so we have not lost one family member but two.
“I am still a lorry driver and it has taken a huge toll on me.
"I used to thoroughly enjoy life, now I just do my job to get me out of bed.”
Vincent Paul Cassar, 65 of Osborne Close, Basingstoke admitted his guilt to death by careless driving at Reading Crown Court on January 7.
After hearing the court case, Alan explained how he wouldn't want Cassar to go to prison.
Mr Gibbons said: "I think he wont go to prison and I don't really want him to. I just wanted him to admit what he has done was wrong."
Cassar was driving a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) on the A322 Bagshot Road towards Sainsbury’s in Bracknell Town Centre when he hit Stephen Gibbons.
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Charles Royle, prosecuting the case, said: “It would appear that an obstacle in the road would have been seen but the reactions were too late to avoid it and his inattention.”
Alan says that he prays his brother’s death was ‘immediate’ so that it wasn’t painful for him.
He added “I just pray that it was instant as there is nothing worse than lying there in pain.”
The crown court judge granted Cassar unconditional bail due to his “good character” and he is disqualified from driving.
Judge Paul Dugdale said: “You have pleaded guilty to causing the death of Stephen Gibbons by the HGV you were driving. That is a serious offence which I know that you understand and that you may receive a custodial sentence.
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“You are a man in your mid-60s of very good character driving for Sainsbury’s and have had a clean licence and you came forward to police. You stopped to see if you can identify the collision when you realised it was not a deer.“Mr Cassar accepts he should have seen the bicycle. He stopped and presented himself to police, this is a case where full credit should be given.
“It is not a simple matter of knowing whether you did see something or didn’t do something, he accepts that he was driving.”
Vincent Paul Cassar will be sentenced on February 7 at Reading Crown Court.
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