A husband whose wife and two children were killed when a lorry driven by a former West Midlands soldier crashed into their car has criticised the three-year jail sentence as too lenient.

James Wingfield, a former Gulf War veteran, was said to have lost concentration when his lorry ploughed into a traffic queue at roadworks.

Stacey Gitsham, aged 26, her son Joshua, two, and daughter Georgia, 11 weeks, died when their stationary BMW was engulfed in flames.

Wingfield (36), from Coventry, pleaded guilty at Peterborough Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving.

Imposing the three-year prison term, Judge Nicholas Coleman said Wingfield would serve half his sentence before being eligible for parole.

He also disqualified him from driving for three years and said he would also have to take an extended driving test before being allowed back on the road.

The court heard that Wingfield, a single man, served with "distinction" with the RAF Regiment during the first Gulf conflict 16 years ago and remained a member of the Territorial Army.

The crash happened on the northbound A1 at Little Paxton, Cambridgeshire, on December 8, after Mrs Gitsham's BMW had stopped for roadworks. Wingfield, who was not hurt, had missed warning signs and was guilty of a "prolonged period of inattention", prosecutors said.

The lorry, loaded with pallets, was travelling at 47 mph when it crashed. Tests showed it had not slowed prior to hitting Mrs Gitsham's car, police said. Five vehicles were involved in the crash in total and several other people injured.

There was no suggestion that Wingfield had been speeding, was distracted or overtired, the court was told.

After the case, Mrs Gitsham's husband Andrew, of Eaton Ford, Cambs, spoke of the devastation caused to his family.

"No words can convey how this tragedy has affected my life and the lives of our family and friends," he said.

"We have a life sentence that will never end. We were just an ordinary family doing ordinary things - don't ever think it couldn't happen to you."

He added: "I know Mr Wingfield didn't get up that morning with the intention of killing my family - but he did.

"His actions and his inattention while driving that day robbed me of my wife and children and our future together.

"In his hands that day the lorry he was driving was as lethal as any weapon - although the law does not reflect that.

"No sentence will ever bring my family back, or change what's happened, but three years' imprisonment seems a small price to pay for taking three lives."

Sentencing Wingfield, the judge told him: "I accept that on that morning when you got up to go to work you didn't intend to do anything as tragic as this.

"I accept that you are filled with remorse."

But he added: "You were an experienced driver. A heavy responsibility falls upon those who drive these large vehicles...The evidence suggests you continued driving without taking appropriate action."

David Holborn, for Wingfield, said: "He deeply apologises for what happened. He has not only, he accepts, destroyed the life of one family but also severely affected the life of another - and that he has to live with that."