M1 drivers who killed 8 are jailed

TWO lorry drivers responsible for a crash that killed eight holidaymakers on their way to Disneyland Paris have been jailed.

Drink-driver Ryszard Masierak, 31, received the maximum 14 years while FedEx driver David Wagstaff, 54, was jailed for three years and four months over the M1 pile-up on August 26 last year, which was Britain’s worst road crash in 26 years.

A minibus driven by victim Cyriac Joseph was crushed after he tried to safely pass Masierak, who had come to a complete stop in the slow lane while twice the alcohol limit, his cab filled with empty cider cans. Wagstaff, of Stoke, then ploughed into the back of the van at 56pm with his vehicle on cruise control while on a hands-free call.

Six men, including Mr Joseph, and two women were killed in the smash near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, while four others including a four-year-old girl left orphaned were seriously injured. Jailing the men at Aylesbury Crown Court yesterday, Judge Francis Sheridan said the ‘devastating’ crash had wiped out a family going on holiday. He condemned Polish national Masierak – who had lost his HGV licence over driving offences and denied being drunk – for his ‘dreadful’ record. He will be deported after his sentence.

Masierak was convicted of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving after a trial at Reading Crown Court. The judge gave credit to Wagstaff for his ‘clear remorse’ and early guilty plea to causing death by careless driving.