Ref. 20224-49GRAPHIC designer Mark Jenkins was killed instantly when a lorry careered into the back of an ambulance in which he was being treated on a motorway hard shoulder, a court heard.

Mr Jenkins, 28, of Ferndale Road, Swindon, called for paramedics when he felt unwell as he drove along the east-bound carriageway of the M4 between Bristol and Bath on August 18, 2002.

He was sitting in the back of the ambulance when the flat-bed lorry, driven by 54-year-old James Kelly, ploughed into it, a jury at Bristol Crown Court heard.

Mr Jenkins was pronounced dead at the scene. Two paramedics were injured.

Opening the prosecution's case, Ray Tully said: "The overwhelming likelihood is that Mr Kelly, for whatever reason, fell asleep at the wheel."

Kelly, of Pontypool, south Wales, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Mr Tully told the jury Kelly was "clearly driving dangerously".

He said witnesses saw the lorry swerve and drift between lanes one and two and the hard shoulder for some distance before the crash.

Mr Tully told the jury: "If someone found themselves doing that, might they not think it prudent to leave the motorway?"

Mr Jenkins was driving home on the Sunday afternoon when he began to feel unwell and pulled over.

Paramedics could not find anything wrong with him and were arranging to take him to a nearby service station for a fuller examination when the crash happened, the court heard.

Kelly has been a heavy goods vehicle driver for 15 years and was driving from south Wales to Eastbourne on the day of the crash.

He told police in an interview that he had had a good night's sleep the night before the crash and had been travelling for only about an hour when the collision occurred.

He said he had no recollection of drifting into other lanes or of the collision itself.

Mr Jenkins was employed as a graphic designer at Nationwide's Hawksworth office.

Staff there were so upset by his death they temporarily closed their office as a mark of respect.

He had been about to buy a house with his girlfriend of five years, Clare Moreton.

The trial continues.

Giles Sheldrick