Second UK truck driver cleared of dangerous driving in Indian crash deaths
A second truck driver involved in what was described as one of Britain's worst road accidents last year that killed eight Indians was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving .
David Wagstaff had previously admitted eight counts of the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.
The 54-year-old was on a hands-free phone call when his vehicle forced the victims' minibus under a stationary truck being driven by 31-year-old Ryszard Masierak.
The jury at Reading Crown Court had found Masierak guilty of eight counts of dangerous driving. Both men will be sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on March 23.
Wagstaff described what happened as a "lack of concentration" and was also cleared of four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving by the jury, charges that Masierak had also been found guilty of.
The trial, which had opened at Reading Crown Court last month, was told that a drunk Masierak had stopped for 12 minutes in the slow lane of the highway just before the crash.
His truck caused an obstruction on the motorway forcing others to slow down before moving around him.
Nottingham-based Keralite minibus driver Cyriac Joseph and seven of his passengers – all Indians – were in a minibus behind him. The 52-year-old had been hired to drive his passengers from Nottingham to London to join a European holiday tour group when they met with the fatal accident.
As Joseph waited with his hazard lights on for a chance to go around the heavy goods vehicle (HGV), a second truck driven by Wagstaff smashed into the back of the minibus, pushing it under Masierak's truck, the court was told.
Polish national Masierak was found to be two times over the legal drink-drive limit and had stopped in the inside lane of the highway when he was involved in the crash near Newport Pagnell in southern England on August 26, 2017.
The victims from Nottingham's Malayali community and their relatives were on their way to London to catch a bus to Disneyland Paris.
Among the victims were software professionals employed by IT major Wipro. Four other people in the minibus – including a four-year-old girl orphaned by the tragedy – spent weeks in hospital following the crash.
During the trial, Wagstaff, who has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, said he "cannot remember anything at all" about the collision. His lawyer said he had "vivid memories" of the bodies in the aftermath of the crash.
Judge Francis Sheridan paid tribute to the jury in what he described as a "very emotional and heart-breaking" case.PTI
