Van driver gets suspended jail term for fatal M4 smart motorway crash

A van driver who killed the passenger of a broken-down car on a smart motorway where the safety alert system was malfunctioning has been given a suspended sentence. Barry O'Sullivan was driving his work van on the M4 in Berkshire when he hit the Nissan Micra, which burst into flames with 68-year-old Pulvinder Dhillon inside. Dhillon's daughter had been driving and was able to escape, but the grandmother from London died despite rescue attempts made by other motorists. O'Sullivan, 45, was sentenced at Reading Crown Court after being found guilty of causing death by careless driving. He was given a six-month jail term, suspended for 12 months. He was also banned from driving for 12 months. Prosecutors at Reading Crown Court said any competent driver should still have avoided the Micra as it stood stranded on the M4 westbound between junctions 11 and 12. The defence argued an accident was always likely to happen and that O'Sullivan, of Wixams, Bedfordshire, was failed by the smart motorway system. Its system to alert motorists of obstructions had not been working for days before. O'Sullivan was found to have been driving his Ford Transit Connect van at about 77mph and was not wearing