Crash horror trucker cleared

A POLISH lorry driver broke down in court after he was found not guilty of killing five people in a motorway crash.

Jurors heard there was “perfect visibility” when Zbigniew Grzabel, 62, smashed into a Nissan Micra.

Four women and a man, all Romanian fruit pickers, died in the crash on the M6 in Staffordshire.

The victims were driver Marius Zevian, 45, and passengers Cucoana Zevian, 49, Gheorghita Radu, 56, NicoletaMarinela Florea, 42, and Marcela Sandu, 34.

A fifth passenger, Aurel Sandu, then 37, was seriously hurt in the crash which happened at 4.20am on May 24, 2017.

Grzabel, of Tipton, West Mids, was charged with five counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

But he was cleared of all the charges by unanimous verdicts at Stafford Crown Court.

He wept uncontrollably as the verdicts were read out yesterday.

The trial was told Grzabel failed to spot the Nissan until he was only a short distance away from the vehicle.

But jurors heard the car had earlier suffered mechanical problems and had pulled on to the hard shoulder before continuing.

Mr Zevian had been driving the car and four others were in the back seat not wearing seat belts.

After he was arrested, Grzabel told police he was not tired, having taken a break at Huddersfield, and was driving at less than 50mph at the time of the smash.

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