Hungarian lorry driver jailed over Cumbrian man's death

Szabo was driving on the wrong side of the road

A Hungarian lorry driver has been jailed for three years after admitting causing the death by dangerous driving of a Cumbrian father-of-two.

Alistair Stockdale, 49, of Winlatter Road in Whitehaven, died in hospital after his van was hit by a lorry driven by Csaba Szabo, 46, in March.

Mr Stockdale was driving a Ford Transit van on the A595 out of Carlisle when the collision happened.

Szabo had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Carlisle Crown Court.

The court heard the crash happened in the early hours of 16 March, when Szabo's HGV came over the crest of a hill on the wrong side of the road and ploughed in Mr Stockdale's van.

Before the collision, Mr Stockdale managed to swerve just enough to save the life of a 21-year-old man who was a passenger in the van.

Sentencing Szabo to three years in jail and disqualifying him from driving for four years, Judge Paul Batty QC said his actions had caused a "lifetime of grief" for Mr Stockdale's family.