A 42-YEAR-OLD man has been convicted of careless driving after his timber lorry destroyed a 120-year-old cottage.

Cardiff man, Christopher Wiggins was transporting 26 tonnes of tree trunks when he lost control of his vehicle.

The incident occurred on May 14, 2021, at Llangua near Abergavenny on the A465.

Bryony Francis, 53, was in the back kitchen when the forestry truck hit her home after speeding around a corner of the A465.

Following the crash, Bryony had described to the Chronicle the terrifying moment, when she heard a “massive, massive bang”, that shook the whole house.

When she went to investigate the front, she found that the door to the snug room, would not budge.

She then went upstairs to the bedroom, which she found was mostly missing, with just the floor still intact.

Bryony later found a giant trunk blocking her way at the back and their van written off on the drive.

She had to climb “very carefully” over a pile of giant trunks strewn beside the house.

Both Bryony and her parner had said at the time, that the house was uninhabitable and were “thanking their lucky stars that neither of us was in the front of the house”.

Meanwhile, the cab of the Karl Jones and Sons lorry was wrecked and the driver taken to hospital with head and leg injuries.

It was confirmed that although Wiggins was cleared of dangerous driving by a jury, he has now been convicted of careless driving at Cardiff Crown Court.

The recorder David Warner stated that the careless way Wiggins drove the vehicle - speeding around a corner that has been deemed “an accident blackspot” by locals, was more an error of judgement, rather than a deliberate course of action.

Wiggins was fined £700, ordered to pay £620 prosecution costs and a £70 victim surcharge.

However, he avoided a driving ban after the judge endorsed his licence with eight penalty points at Cardiff Crown Court.

According to Wiggin’s defence, he [Wiggins] had been working with an agency during the time of the crash. As a result of the incident he has had to put work on hold, which has subsequeltly dried up for him.

When Wiggins had informed the agency of his conviction he was told that it would be unlikely that he would recieve any further work, leaving him with no income.