IT was a scene of devastation - one rescue workers will never forget. The tangled wreckage of the red VW Golf lay in a field - inside were Timothy Embleton, his wife Naomi and their two daughters, Caitlin, seven and Isabel, four.

The family, from Poole, were killed outright when a lorry ploughed into their car. They were so badly injured their bodies could only be identified from their dental records. When police arrived at the scene off the A36 near Warminster, Wiltshire, on June 22 last year, they found Gwent lorry driver Christopher Hannon (piuctured) sitting on a holdall in the field.

He suffered a broken shoulder when his bread lorry pushed the Golf across a grass verge and in to a gully before ploughing over it. He told one witness the VW was on his side of the road and there was nothing he could do.

But today Hannon, 33, from Manor Way, Ty Sign,Risca, is starting a five-year sentence after admitting four charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

Swindon crown court heard Hannon took amphetamine sulphate to try to stay awake at the wheel that day.

Prosecuting barrister Susan Evans said Hannon, a shift driver for Rathbones bakers was on a run from Newport via drop-off points to the South Coast.

He either fell asleep at the wheel or "experienced a complete or extended loss of concentration", she said - and he had managed only three hours sleep in the 36 hours leading up to the accident.

Ms Evans said Hannon - who admitted to police taking amphetamine that morning - was a regular user who would have known the drug caused extreme drowsiness, a large 'comedown' and over-confidence.

After loading his lorry and setting off he would have been in no fit state to drive. She said: "By 7pm to 8pm he would be entering the down stage and his alertness would be tailing off. As a user in the past he would have known that would be the effect of amphetamines as they began to wear off."

Ms Evans said Hannon drifted on to the wrong side of the road before hitting the Embletons, and his speed should have been around 40mph maximum but was later found to be 53mph. Hannon, the court heard, admitted "going flat-out".

Police crash investigators found he made no attempt to brake and, even though he would have had a full eight seconds to see the Embletons' car, took no evasive action. Hannon, a father-of-four, was described in court as "a broken man".

Mitigating, Gerald Forlin said: "He is a broken man, his life is in tatters. I know he has shown guilt and terrible remorse."

Mr Forlin added: "He said to me whatever sentence is passed his sentence started on the day of the accident."

Judge Carol Hagen jailed Hannon for five years on each charge, to run concurrently and also imposed a five-year driving ban.

She said: "All cases of this kind are tragic and this case particularly so because it involves an entire family - two parents and two children whose lives were snuffed out in the course of a few seconds."

Speaking after the case Inspector Kate Brookes, of Wiltshire Police, said: "From the perspective of the police, fire and emergency crews it was the most distressing that they have had to deal with, because of its nature and the children involved.

"It was quite clear that there would be nobody that could have possibly survived being in that car. It is something I hope I never have to deal with again." l When questioned at her home, Michelle Hannon, Christopher's wife declined to comment.