A truck driver has been given 240 hours community service and banned from driving for three years for causing a fatal accident while using his mobile phone, broadcaster Nos reports.

The public prosecution department had called for a four month jail term. The driver drove into a 47-year-old man who was carrying out roadworks on the edge of the A58 in October 2013.

The police investigation showed the lorry driver had sent 94 WhatsApp messages since getting into his cab, had taken photos of the journey and placed them on Facebook, and had been surfing the internet.

After the accident the man, who was 25 at the time, erased everything on his phone and denied he had been using it. However, police were able to track his behaviour using his girlfriend’s phone.