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| M1 minibus crash accused 'felt faint and stopped' in carriageway | M1 minibus crash accused 'felt faint and stopped' in carriageway |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A driver accused of causing a crash that killed eight minibus passengers stopped on the M1 carriageway because he felt faint, he told a court. | A driver accused of causing a crash that killed eight minibus passengers stopped on the M1 carriageway because he felt faint, he told a court. |
| Ryszard Masierak, 32, drew his lorry to a halt near Newport Pagnell on 26 August and said he felt "sweating, weakness and a headache". | Ryszard Masierak, 32, drew his lorry to a halt near Newport Pagnell on 26 August and said he felt "sweating, weakness and a headache". |
| Asked whether his headache was because he was drunk he replied "no". | Asked whether his headache was because he was drunk he replied "no". |
| Mr Masierak and another lorry driver, David Wagstaff, deny eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving. | Mr Masierak and another lorry driver, David Wagstaff, deny eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving. |
| Reading Crown Court had previously been told Mr Masierak was twice the legal alcohol limit when he had stopped in the inside lane at 02:57 BST on 26 August, despite there being miles of hard shoulder available. | Reading Crown Court had previously been told Mr Masierak was twice the legal alcohol limit when he had stopped in the inside lane at 02:57 BST on 26 August, despite there being miles of hard shoulder available. |
| Mr Masierak admitted to the court he had drunk alcohol in the hours before the crash but told the jury his drinking had nothing to do with the collision. | Mr Masierak admitted to the court he had drunk alcohol in the hours before the crash but told the jury his drinking had nothing to do with the collision. |
| When asked by prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC whether he felt any sense of responsibility for what happened, Mr Masierak replied: "I'm simply sorry for those people who died." | When asked by prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC whether he felt any sense of responsibility for what happened, Mr Masierak replied: "I'm simply sorry for those people who died." |
| The Polish national told the jury he slowed his lorry down and put his hazard lights on before losing consciousness. | The Polish national told the jury he slowed his lorry down and put his hazard lights on before losing consciousness. |
| He admitted to the court he could have come off at the junction before but he said he "knew something bad was happening to me". | He admitted to the court he could have come off at the junction before but he said he "knew something bad was happening to me". |
| Through a Polish interpreter, he told the jury: "This slip road was in the distance as if some mist was in my eyes. Instead of seeing one lane I could see two." | |
| He said he did attempt to pull onto the hard shoulder to stop. | |
| "I fell to the floor between the passenger seat and the driver's seat. Then I lost consciousness and do not remember anything from then on - not the force of the impact," he added. | |
| While his vehicle was stopped, the court has heard a lorry being driven by Mr Wagstaff - who was on a hands-free call at the time - ploughed into the back of the minibus forcing it into and under Mr Masierak's vehicle. | While his vehicle was stopped, the court has heard a lorry being driven by Mr Wagstaff - who was on a hands-free call at the time - ploughed into the back of the minibus forcing it into and under Mr Masierak's vehicle. |
| Minibus driver Cyriac Joseph - who was waiting with his hazard lights on to go around the lorry - and seven of his passengers were killed in the crash. | Minibus driver Cyriac Joseph - who was waiting with his hazard lights on to go around the lorry - and seven of his passengers were killed in the crash. |
| Four others, including a four-year-old girl, were seriously injured. | Four others, including a four-year-old girl, were seriously injured. |
| They were on their way to London to catch a coach to Disneyland Paris on the Bank Holiday weekend. | They were on their way to London to catch a coach to Disneyland Paris on the Bank Holiday weekend. |
| Mr Masierak told the jury it felt like he had been in a "small coma" when he woke up following the collision. | |
| Mr Masierak, of Barnards Close in Evesham, Worcestershire, and Mr Wagstaff, 54, of Derwent Street in Stoke-on-Trent, both also deny four charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving charges, while Mr Masierak faces an additional charge of drink-driving. | Mr Masierak, of Barnards Close in Evesham, Worcestershire, and Mr Wagstaff, 54, of Derwent Street in Stoke-on-Trent, both also deny four charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving charges, while Mr Masierak faces an additional charge of drink-driving. |
| The trial continues. | The trial continues. |