A MAN whose careless driving left one friend dead and another seriously injured in a crash on the M5 has been jailed.

Tom Pilling, 25, was jailed for six months at Taunton Crown Court today (December 6) following the incident on the motorway near Wellington, which killed 24-year-old Daniel Gunn.

Pilling, of Pinnex Moor Road, Tiverton, admitted causing death by careless driving when charged after the early-morning smash on March 9.

Another man, Tom Moyes, was left in a critical condition after the crash southbound between junctions 25 and 26 and was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital. He survived the incident.

Police closed the carriageway for more than five hours after Pilling’s Citroen Saxo left the road shortly after 6am and long tailbacks caused disruption on other major roads around Taunton and Wellington.

After the incident, Daniel’s dad, Keith, mum, Maria, brother, Jamie, and sister, Laura, paid tribute to him in a statement, saying: “He was a wonderful son, brother and everybody’s true friend.”

Pilling also pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death while driving without insurance.

He was disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £80.