M1 minibus crash accused 'felt faint and stopped' in carriageway Published duration 28 February 2018

image caption Two lorries and a minibus were involved in the crash during the August Bank Holiday weekend

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 2017 and said he was "sweating, felt weakness and had a headache".

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.

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, 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.

image copyright Helen Tipper image caption Ryszard Masierak's supervisor previously told the court he appeared normal when he started his shift

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.

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 on to 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.

Mr Wagstaff also gave evidence on Wednesday and, occasionally upset, said he "cannot remember anything at all" about the collision.

image copyright Helen Tipper image caption David Wagstaff was on a hands-free call when he crashed into the minibus

The jury heard there was no evidence of Mr Wagstaff, who has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, braking or trying to turn the wheel before the crash.

Mr Wagstaff told the court: "I do remember saying, 'It's my fault, I have done it' but I cannot remember too much of anything else."

His lawyer, Gillian Jones QC said Mr Wagstaff told a police officer: "I'm going to prison. I have seen it often enough. I was on the telephone."

Mr Wagstaff said he does not recall this conversation but added those words "definitely" sound like something he would say.

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.

image copyright Facebook image caption The minibus was owned and being driven by Cyriac Joseph

Four others, including a four-year-old girl, were seriously injured.

They were on their way from Nottingham 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.