A LORRY driver who caused the death of a Kidlington milkman told police he was ‘swerving’ to avoid a deer in the road, a court has heard.
Barry Archer, 43, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court charged with causing the death of Tom Glancy, 64, by dangerous driving.
The incident occurred on July 16, 2020, on the A420 near Pusey.
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Archer denied the offence but has pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service did not accept the alternative charge plea and the trial is continuing this week.
During the opening on Tuesday (July 23), it was heard that Archer was driving a 2016-plate Mercedes Actros lorry towards Leighton Buzzard and Mr Glancy was driving his Ford Transit milk float in the opposite direction.
It was about 2.45am when Archer entered the opposite lane ‘completely’ and collided with Mr Glancy’s vehicle head-on.
Both vehicles caught fire and Mr Glancy died at the scene.
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The defendant managed to escape his vehicle before the fire took hold and had called the emergency services at about 2.48am.
In the call, Archer told the 999 operator that he believed the driver of the other vehicle was dead.
He also told them he ‘knew he was going to go to prison’.
The Mercedes driver was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital to be checked over before being driven to a police station – the prosecution told the jury Archer had fallen asleep on the driver at about 7.30am.
During a police interview, he told officers that he had seen a deer about 12ft in front of him and the animal was ‘on the verge and looked like it was going to step out in front of him’.
The Trans Haul employee said he swerved into the opposite lane but ‘hadn’t seen’ Mr Glancy’s headlights ‘at all’.
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As a result, the prosecution described Archer’s account of seeing the deer as ‘improbable at best’ and ‘a lie at worst’.
A joint report written by an expert from the prosecution and defence agreed that Mr Glancy ‘did not contribute to the collision happening’.
The trial of Archer, of Claygate, near Esher in Surry, continues.
It is expected to last six to seven days.
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