• Horrific crash caused by driver distracted searching for cigarette
• Elderly man dies, others seriously injured in multi-vehicle collision

A man has been banned from driving for a year after causing a devastating five-vehicle crash while looking for a cigarette inside his van.

Jamie Nicholls, 48, admitted responsibility for the accident, which occurred on an exit ramp near Bristol. He told investigators he looked down “for a moment” and couldn’t stop his van in time to avoid a stationary car in a queue.

Avon and Somerset Police said several people were injured, including 68-year-old Michael Stone from Longwell Green, who died at the scene.

The court heard that Nicholls’ van hit the back of one car at high speed, causing a chain reaction that involved four more vehicles. A colleague of the victim, sitting in the adjacent seat, suffered serious injuries, including seven broken ribs and a head injury.

In court, Stone’s wife, Penny, described the heartbreak of losing her husband of 40 years and the difficulty of telling their daughters, one of whom was on her honeymoon in the U.S. at the time. She recalled: “Mike was the foundation of our family… I never got the chance to say goodbye. I waved him off to work that morning, and the next time I saw him was 11 days later in the mortuary.”

Bristol Crown Court sentenced Nicholls to 14 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, banned him from driving for a year with extended testing, and imposed curfew, rehabilitation, fines, and court costs.