Lorry’s speed ‘probably’ killed OAP Francis Barber

Published: 8 April 2010
by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS

THE driver of a lorry which knocked over a pensioner in Camden Town has been charged with driving at excessive speed and with a faulty vehicle.

Francis Barber, 66, died after he was struck by the white lorry as he crossed Camden Road in October last year. 

At his inquest on Thursday, traffic collision investigators rev­ealed publicly for the first time that the driver of the ­lorry had been charged. 

Mr Barber, a landscape gardener from Holloway, Islington, was hit as he made his way to the London Irish Centre in Camden Square which he attended to get help filling in council forms. 

Packing the courtroom at St Pancras Coroner’s Court, relatives heard for the first time that the lorry driver had been driving at 37mph and would probably have stopped in time had he been travelling at the legal speed limit of 30mph.

The driver was not named in the court. 

He was due to give evidence but according to coroner’s officers, who contacted him by telephone moments before the inquest, he claimed to be unaware he had been called as a witness. 

He is due to appear at Hendon Magistrates’ Court on May 10, where he will answer a charge of driving with excess speed and with a defective vehicle. 

The court heard the defect – a problem with a rear wheel tyre – did not impair his ability to brake.

The horror smash left Irish-born Mr Barber with multiple injuries. He died within hours at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.

Anguished relatives asked coroner Dr Andrew Reid whether Mr Barber would be alive today if the driver’s speed had been different.

His daughter, Fidelma Barber, said: “If the driver was doing 30mph, would he have hit my father?” Dr Reid replied: “Probably not.”

Collision experts said Mr Barber was crossing Camden Road just beyond the pedestrian crossing when the lorry hit him. 

The driver had been doing 37mph when he applied the emergency brakes, and came to halt when he reached the crossing – but by then he had struck the Mr Barber. Collision investigator PC Stuart Mitchell said there was no way of knowing whether Mr Barber stepped out when the green man signal appeared on the crossing. There were no witnesses or CCTV of the tragedy. 

Dr Reid asked PC Mitchell: “Whether the lights were green or red, Mr Barber hadn’t used the crossing – and you can’t say whether the lorry should have been slowing down for a red light?”

“The driver was about 35 metres away when he perceived the need for braking,” he said. “If he had been travelling at 30 mph it is likely he would have stopped in time.” 

He said the driver had pressed his brakes when he was 19 metres away from Mr Barber and it took another 1.5 seconds before they collided.

But PC Mitchell added: “Having not used the crossing, the onus is on [Mr Barber] to cross safely.”

Dr Reid said Mr Barber died as a result of an accident, “to which the speed of the vehicle contributed”.

Neighbours living in Mr Barber’s Carleton Road block paid tribute to him, describing him as a “lovely family man” whose daughter and granddaughter always came first.

Gerry Sheridan, his neighbour of five years, said: “He was a family man, he used to go and visit his daughter and she’d come and see him. He also used to go to Ireland regular. He was a happy-go-lucky person who always wanted to help others.”

Mr Sheridan said his neighbour would invite him in for coffee or they would sit outside reminiscing about Ireland and Mr Barber’s early days building tunnels for the waterways service in England.