TRUCKER Andrew Darby, whose crashed lorry caused tens of thousands of pounds damage and closed the A14 for four days, has been told he will not face prosecution.

By Richard Cornwell

TRUCKER Andrew Darby, whose crashed lorry caused tens of thousands of pounds damage and closed the A14 for four days, has been told he will not face prosecution.

But two other lorry drivers involved in accidents on the dual carriageway on the Felixstowe peninsula are still waiting to find out if they will be taken to court.

Police who have investigated Mr Darby's accident have decided not to take any further action.

His 40ft Securicor Omega truck turned over and got wedged across the dual carriageway on August 13, right underneath the A14 at the Trimley interchange.

The stretch of road was closed for four days with westbound vehicles diverted up the Trimley sliproad and down the other side back onto the main road.

The truck, which had just left Felixstowe port, struck the inside lane crash barrier just before the interchange and skidded across the outside lane before swinging back towards the tree-lined embankment and overturning.

But traffic officers have decided it was an accident and there was no grounds for a prosecution.

Mr Darby, 58, of St Mary's Bay, Kent, suffered a ruptured spleen, fluid on his lungs and six broken ribs in the crash and spent several days in intensive care at Ipswich Hospital.

However, after being allowed home, he suffered further health problems when doctors found he still had fluid on his lungs. He had to be readmitted to hospital and was then struck down by the hospital superbug MRSA.

A police spokeswoman said that investigations were not yet complete into two other crashes on the A14 this summer – one just before the Seven Hills sliproad and the other on the Felixstowe dock spur roundabout.

In the Seven Hills crash driver Michael Hanson, of Nelson, Lancashire, amazingly escaped uninjured after his lorry was in collision with a broken down van, left on the verge.

The lorry and the van went down an embankment and into a soakaway lagoon.

John Bradford, his wife Bernadette, and sister Daphne Bilbrough, all from Felixstowe, had got out of the van moments before the crash because it had suffered a puncture. Fortunately, they had got out of the vehicle and moved away from it while they decided what to do.

The dock spur crash happened on July 16 when a juggernaut overturned as it turned left to Ipswich from the Port of Felixstowe Road at about 5.30pm.

It went across the roundabout, amazingly missing rush-hour traffic crossing the junction, before flipping over.

Meanwhile, police have decided to take no action against the driver of a similar crash at the same point on June 5 – even though the crash was witnessed by police officers.