Drunk lorry driver guilty of M1 crash that killed 8
A DRUNKEN trucker who parked on the M1 and fell asleep was yesterday found guilty of causing the deaths of eight people.
Ryszard Masierak, 31, stopped on the inside lane – rather than the hard shoulder – for 12 minutes after drinking cider, jurors were told.
A minibus full of tourists from India pulled up behind his vehicle but was smashed into by another lorry at Newport Pagnell, Bucks.
AIM Logistics driver Masierak said he stopped because he was sweating, felt weak and had a headache. He admitted drinking alcohol before his shift but denied being drunk.
But prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC said breath tests showed he was “likely to have been in the region of twice the legal limit” at the time of the collision.
Four people in the minibus were killed instantly as it was partially forced under the first lorry and the others died in hospital.
A jury convicted Polish national Masierak of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving, and four of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Judge Francis Sheridan told Masierak, from Evesham, Worcs, he could be sentenced today before remanding him in custody.
Jurors at Reading Crown Court will continue their deliberations today on the same charges against the other trucker, FedEx driver David Wagstaff, 54, of Stoke-on-Trent, who is accused of talking on a hands-free mobile just before the crash. Wagstaff has been released on bail. Scene of the accident on M1 at Newport Pagnell DEBBIE McGee has revealed she is struggling to sleep after the hectic pace of Strictly Come Dancing and the death of husband Paul Daniels.
The glamorous 59-year-old admitted she had been left mentally and emotionally shattered by a busy work schedule and losing the popular magician after almost three decades together.
Debbie, who wowed viewers dancing with Italian hunk Giovanni Pernice in the 2017 series of Strictly, said: “I’ve been really busy working seven days a week for just over six months and now I just feel like my body is racing.
Professional
“I can’t get off to sleep and if I do drop off I only sleep for three or four hours. I can’t calm down.” Debbie is taking part in ITV’s Sleep Revolution campaign, during which she will get a professional diagnosis on her rest problems. Yesterday she spoke live from her bedroom to guest presenter Kate Garraway on Lorraine to describe her torment. She said: “I don’t think I’ve ever slept properly since Paul died so I think that’s added to it. I haven’t been able to sleep for the past two years.”
Debbie first met Paul, who died of a brain tumour at 77 two years ago, in 1979 during rehearsals for a summer season. He was 40 and she was 20.
During her time as Paul’s magic show assistant Debbie said people thought of her as a “fluffy blonde who stood at the back and was not capable of achieving anything”.
But she proved otherwise by reaching the final of Strictly with Giovanni while enjoying a “wonderful renaissance”.
She told the Daily Express last year: “I don’t think I could wish for anything more at my time of life.
“I don’t think anyone thinks of themselves as a sex symbol, but I love hearing all the wonderful things being said about me.”
Referring to her amazing high-stepping routines on the show, she added: “People ask me, ‘How on earth do you get your legs up there?’ and it’s stretching, pure and simple.
“At the end of the day I can hardly walk but I am an old-school showbusiness professional. Even if I am exhausted I will keep going until the job is done.”