A Chartham driver – whose tipper truck struck and killed a motorist in an accident on the A2 - later told police: “I wish I could turn back time”.

Paul Luckhurst, 41, broke down after being told the driver of the MG vintage car he hit had suffered injuries from which he had died.

Keith Hall, 44, from Whitfield, near Dover had been looking into the engine after the BGT vehicle had broken down on the London-bound stretch near Patrixbourne in April.

Luckhurst, of Highland Road, pleaded guilty to causing his death by driving carelessly and was jailed for eight months and banned from driving for 18 months.

Judge Adele Williams told him: “You have expressed genuine remorse and the effects on you have been traumatic.

"You will have to live with what you did for the rest of your life.”

Luckhurst had told police officers how he had been following an articulated lorry and “I just looked down and all of a sudden I hit it (the MG). I just didn’t see the car.”

Canterbury Crown Court heard that the experiences trucker was on his last delivery of the day and thought he was travelling two seconds behind a lorry which managed to overtake the stricken MG.

But Prosecutor Martin Yale said it was “more like one second”; adding “had there been a two-second gap he would have had time to see and react appropriately to Mr Hall’s car and avoid it.”

The court heard that the victim had gone out to get some special paint for the car when the engine cut out near the turn-off for the A2050.

Mr Yale said that at that point there was no hard shoulder and Mr Hall manoeuvered his vehicle near the edge – but couldn’t take it any further away from the carriageway because of a 45 degree kerb.

He said he was seen by other motorists making a call from his mobile phone but shortly before the tragedy had opened the bonnet and was looking inside.

It was then that Mr Luckhurst’s truck arrived in convoy with other lorries and struck the MG, knocking Mr Hall underneath.

The trucker, who had been travelling at between 44 and 49 mph at the time of the crash, stopped immediately and called the emergency services.

“You have expressed genuine remorse and the effects on you have been traumatic. You will have to live with what you did for the rest of your life” - Judge Adele Williams

Mr Hall’s widow Paula said after the accident: "Keith was a good husband to me and a special Dad to our two much-loved children that he adored.

"He will be greatly missed by us, his family and his friends.

"He touched the lives of so many people and will hopefully be remembered as a kind, generous, football mad man, who would do anything for you."

Five Victim Impact Statements from family and friends outlining their “loss, grief and anguish” were read by the judge, who said they had made “moving reading”.

The judge said that no sentence would seem adequate for the family.

Christopher Sutton-Mattocks, defending, said Luckhurst had been looking at his mirror just before the crash.

He added: “This was a momentary lapse in concentration which resulted in catastrophic consequences”.

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