The incident involving a monster truck at a village show which left three people dead was probably caused by a technical problem, the lawyer for the truck’s driver said on Thursday.

The driver is due in court next week to face manslaughter charges. However, his lawyer, Rob Oude Breuil, told Radio 1 news that a second forensic examination of the truck shows a cable had come loose which meant the back wheels could not be steered.

A spokesman for the public prosecution department declined to comment on the report, saying the case will be heard on Tuesday. ‘Only then will we outline what we think happened,’ the spokesman said.

The truck, which was part of a monster truck festival in the town of Haaksbergen, crushed several cars as part of a stunt, but then ploughed into the crowd. Two adults and a five-year-old boy were killed and 28 people injured.