A LORRY driver who nodded off at the wheel and ploughed into a line of traffic, killing a driver, this week failed to get his jail sentence cut.

Wayne Emery, aged 33, who suffered from a sleeping condition diagnosed after the accident, was jailed for two years and banned from driving for five years at Warrington Crown Court in April.

He admitted causing the death of 49-year-old Wirral man Roman Berezowski, by dangerous driving, on the M6 near junction 21A at Croft in June 2002.

London's Criminal Appeal Court dismissed his sentence challenge, rejecting claims that it was "manifestly excessive".

Emery, from Stafford, accepted that he fell asleep at the wheel, and he ought to have recognised that he was feeling tired just prior to nodding off, the court was told.

The court heard that Emery, who had a clean driving record, had been involved in two minor accidents in 1995, when he had nodded off.

But he later had surgery on his nasal passages and believed that he was able to drive.

Emery's barrister, David Temkin, said that his client's mitigation included his guilty plea, genuine remorse, and a number of references.

His health had suffered following the crash, his marriage had broken down, and his career as a lorry driver was over, the court heard.