Grimsby cyclist-killer truck driver’s appeal against sentence length thrown out

A judge has rejected a Grimsby truck driver’s appeal against a two-year jail sentence for killing a cyclist. Mervyn White was jailed for two years in September after admitting killing Julian Barlow. White had at one point told police that Barlow should have let his lorry through, using the phrase “it takes two to tango”.

White hit and killed Barlow, known as Jules, on July 27, 2014, when he drove his 18-tonne articulated lorry onto a roundabout at the junction of the M62 eastbound and A19 Selby Road at Whitley, near Goole.

White failed to give way to Barlow and his speed never dropped below 19mph. In a police interview, he said he had been taught to keep the lorry moving whenever possible at roundabouts to save fuel.

White initially denied the charge and claimed he had been blinded by the sun but changed his plea the day before the trial as a result of a report commissioned by his own defence team.

The Grimsby Telegraph reports that White's lawyers argued that his jail term was far too tough and ought to be cut, pointing to his "exemplary" 31-year HGV driving record, previous good character, mature years and guilty plea.

However, Judge Moss said it was no "momentary lapse" that caused Barlow's death and added that it was "very troubling" that it was his practice not to stop at clear junctions to save fuel.

He concluded that White’s appeal had “no merit.”