AN HGV driver was distracted by betting apps on his mobile phone moments before he “cannoned” into a car that had broken down on the A34 killing a father-of-four.

Dean Moffat, 48, had been using gambling apps on his phone in the two minutes before his MAN lorry crashed into a Toyota Corolla at 56mph parked by the side of the carriageway.

Ric Mboma, 60, was killed and his two teenage children, Witley and Heaven, were seriously injured. Mr Mboma, of Feltham, London, died instantly after suffering serious injuries.

The fatal crash took place on the southbound stretch of the A34 close to Sutton Scotney services at around 8.10pm on November 11, 2019.

Mr Mboma was taking his daughter back to university in Winchester when the fatal accident occurred.

Catherine Donnelly, prosecuting, said that Mr Mboma’s pulled up in the inside lane of the A34 after his tyre had deflated and started sparking. He had put his hazard lights on and was looking in the boot for a spare tyre.

Dash cam footage from the lorry shown in court revealed that Moffat swerved onto the rumble strip of the road just minutes before the crash. It also showed Moffat would have a clear view of Mr Mboma’s car for seven seconds and would have been visible for “some time and distance prior to the collision”.

The car was seen by an eyewitness to “leave the ground and spin in the air” and Mr Mboma’s body was thrown to a nearside verge.

Ms Donnelly added: “The vehicle he (Moffat) was driving continued with no variation in speed or direction.”

Ric Mbomas family and friends outside court after Dean Moffat was jailed for seven years

Ric Mboma's family and friends outside court after Dean Moffat was jailed for seven years

When interviewed, Ms Donnelly told the court, Moffat said that: “He didn’t see anything in lane one, he confirmed he didn’t see the vehicle until he collided with it.

“He said it was because he hadn’t seen the car, when asked where he was looking, he didn’t know.

“He did admit that he had been using his phone earlier in the journey to use Facebook and the (his employee's) tracker app.

“He said using his phone doesn’t distract him when driving.”

But Ms Donnelly said that an examination of his phone revealed that in the two minutes before the crash he placed a bet on a greyhound race - he tried to hide his actions by deleting the Skybet and Bet365 apps just 14 minutes after the accident.

Judge Jane Miller QC, who described the HGV as a “lethal weapon”, said: “You took no invasive action whatsoever and cannoned into the vehicle.”

The judge continued: “You know, in my judgement, what exactly caused the accident.

“If you had not been looking at your phone you would have had ample time to move around the car as all the vehicles did in front of you.”

Moffat had written a letter to Mr Mboma’s family but Judge Miller said that he “did not get anywhere near admitting what actually happened”.

Julia Kendrick, in mitigation, said that the former Army solider of 22 years “apologises unreservedly for his behaviour on the day of the accident and he apologises to the family and friends of Mr Mboma”.

His letter to the victim’s family, he said: “I fully accept the devastating impact that this has had on you and will continue to have on you.

“I am not a bad person - I did not intend for any of this to happen when I set out to work that day.”

In March, Moffat, of Robson Avenue, Peterlee, County Durham, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and perverting the course justice by deleting the betting apps from his mobile phone.

Moffat was jailed for seven years and he was also disqualified from driving for seven and a half years and will need to take an extended re-test.