Lorry driver whose tight manoeuvre ran over and killed a homeless woman is jailed

A lorry driver who took a tight turn into a petrol station forecourt and ran over and killed a homeless woman asleep on the pavement has been jailed.

Alec Keiran, 52, from Bamber Bridge, was driving his HGV into a petrol station on Scotland Road in Liverpool around 8.05am on 10 August 2023.

He had a delivery for the Spar shop on the site and was manoeuvring onto the forecourt from Wilbraham Street, which is a narrow, single lane carriageway.

The tight manoeuvre was made more difficult as a car was parked opposite the forecourt entrance. As Mr Keiran began the turn he saw what he thought was a bin bag and a folded duvet on the pavement.

To complete the turn and avoid the car, the rear wheels of the lorry cut across the pavement. Tragically, the “bin bag” was in fact a woman, Nicole Cummings, asleep in a sleeping bag. The back wheel went straight over her,  causing fatal injuries.

A driver nearby had witnessed how tight the manoeuvre was that Mr Keiran had tried to execute and thought he would reverse to complete it. He saw Ms Cummings lying on the pavement and sounded his horn, but to no avail. He ran from his car and told Mr Keiran what had happened. The emergency services were called.

A customer at the shop in the petrol station had spotted Ms Cummings earlier in the day and had taken her a sandwich and a drink and advised her to move. But she remained asleep.

When the police arrived, Mr Keiran was waiting in a back room at the garage. He was said to be clearly in shock, very upset and apologetic. He was arrested and later interviewed.

He said he would not have attempted the manoeuvre if he had known Ms Cummings was lying there.

However, he did say that he knew the back wheels would mount the pavement as he turned in and thought that, if the object he had seen was a bin, it would be pushed out of the way by his lorry.

The company that Mr Keiran worked for said he had received regular training and updates since he had begun working for them in 2017. However, they had identified a potential weakness in his ability to manoeuvre a lorry in reverse.

The company had also carried out a risk assessment of the site in question, that added: “Busy forecourt with cars and customers in the area. If in any doubt, get out of the vehicle and check the surrounding areas”.

In a Victim Personal Statement read to the court, Nicole’s father said: “Nicole was a wonderful person who was loved dearly by her family, we think about her with sadness every day. We miss her sense of humour, her laugh and her huge presence. For many years her life had been troubled. I was told she was going to make changes to her life, she had found purpose. I was told she was writing a story on her life and how she was going to overcome her struggles and have a life worth living.

“To have had Nicole taken from us so early in this life means we grieve doubly for her. Firstly, we grieve the hole her death has left us with, and secondly, we grieve the future that was taken from her.”

Her grandmother said in her statement: “We read in the Liverpool Echo that the people who had chatted to her on a daily basis said she was a lovely woman. Me and her grandad would like to thank everyone who took the time to have a chat with her, give her a sandwich, a drink, a blanket. We know Nicole would have been very grateful.”

On 29 August 2024, at Liverpool Crown Court, Alec Keiran pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving. Today (26 September 2024) at Liverpool Crown Court he was given an immediate prison term of a year and has been disqualified from driving for a year with an extended period of 6 months. The Judge accepted Mr Keiran was extremely and genuinely remorseful but said an immediate prison term was the only appropriate sentence.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Natassia McAdam of CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said “This is a tragic case. Alec Keiran clearly did not mean to kill Ms Cummings on that day. But the manoeuvre he carried out meant that her death became inevitable.

“If he had reversed and altered the position of the lorry and the rear wheels, they would not have mounted the pavement and come into contact with Ms Cummings.

“If he had got out of the lorry before he turned to check what the obstruction on the pavement was, this tragedy would not have happened either.

“His driving fell below the standard expected and he is now behind bars. No doubt he will live with the consequences of that day for the rest of his life.

“The family of his victim will live with this too. The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank them for their dignity and their help in bringing this case before the court."