A LORRY driver whose "momentary inattention" caused by a sneeze contributed to the death of an entire family had his driving ban cut.

Flt Lt Neville Rees, 43, his wife Karen, 41, and their eleven-year-old son Andrew, died when their car was hit from behind by Neil Margerison's HGV on the A15 near RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire in January.

Margerison, 24, of Ribchester Road, Clayton-le-Dale, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving, but acquitted and instead convicted of the lesser charge of careless driving at Lincoln Crown Court in April.

He was banned for three years and fined £2,000, but yesterday had his ban cut to 18 months at the Criminal Appeal Court.

Margerison had been driving at a correct speed and at a safe distance behind traffic on the A17 when he was forced to brake sharply due to a foreign vehicle stopping suddenly ahead of him, the court heard.

The Rees family's Peugeot, travelling between the two lorries, was squashed between the vehicles and crushed so badly that some witnesses did not know it was even there.

The son died immediately, but his parents were trapped in the vehicle as it burst into flames.

They were killed in the fire as Margerison bravely battled to save the couple, the court heard.

At his trial, Margerison admitted he should have braked more promptly, but said he had sneezed, causing the moment of inattention and slowing his reactions.

Sentencing him, Judge Michael Heath said although it had been only a momentary lapse of attention, it was a bad case of careless driving with "devast-ating consequences".

However, he was a "decent young man" with no previous convictions and only a minor endorsement on his licence for a traffic sign offence, the judge said.

Margerison appealed against the length of his driving ban, saying that had the incident not had the tragic consequences it did, he may not have been disqualified from driving at all.

Allowing the appeal, Mr Justice Jack, who sat with Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Simon, said: "This was a case where there was a momentary lapse of attention and, subject to the road traffic sign offence resulting in an endorsement, he had a good a driving record.

"The circumstances of the accident do not suggest that he poses a particular risk for the future. It was, however, a case where, as a result of his momentary inattention, three people died.

"We consider, in the circumstances, a disqualification of three years was too long.

"In our view, a disqualification of 18 months would meet the circumstances of the case."