Trucker who killed three in crash ‘had been looking at dating sites’
A lorry driver who ploughed into stationary traffic on a motorway and killed three people had been looking at adult dating sites on his phone moments before, a court was told.
Dash cam footage showed Ion Onut’s cab burst into flames and career a further 100m along the A1(M) in County Durham after the initial crash caused an explosion.
Onut was jailed for eight years and ten months at Durham Crown Court after admitting three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
Couple David Daglish and Elaine Sullivan from Seaham, County Durham, and Paul Mullen from Washington, Tyne and Wear, died instantly.
Onut, who had been looking at sites Shag Today and Mystic Match, had spent almost £50 to engage with users, and was looking at profiles and editing his own over a period of 40 minutes leading up to the smash.
His last interaction on his phone was in the seconds before the collision and he was “utterly oblivious” to the stationary vehicles ahead, the court was told.
Onut, 41, did not brake before driving into the line of traffic at 58mph.
He first hit the back of the Vauxhall Crossland containing Mr Daglish, 57, and Ms Sullivan, 59, then smashed 51-year-old Mr Mullen’s Toyota Hilux under another lorry before carrying on along the road, injuring three others.
Judge James Adkin, who banned Onut from driving for ten years after his release, said: “You were not asleep at the wheel, which would have been bad enough, in fact you were trawling the internet looking for casual sexual partners.”
Onut, who was living with his family in Galashiels, and working for a haulage firm, was heading north with a load of fertiliser when he caused the crash around 6.15pm on July 15 2021.
A previous incident had caused traffic to build up and warning signs alerted drivers of delays and told them slow down, with other motorists observing a 50mph limit put in place.
But Onut was seen weaving across lanes prior to the crash, which happened near the Bowburn junction, and did not slow down.
Richard Bloomfield, defending, said Onut felt remorse for the “devastation” he caused.