M1 crash deaths: Driver 'did not smell of alcohol'

Ryszard Masierak allegedly stopped on the carriageway for 12 minutes

A lorry driver accused of being twice the drink-drive limit when he was involved in a crash which killed eight people on the M1 appeared "normal" when he started his shift, a court heard.

Ryszard Masierak, 32, stopped on the carriageway near Newport Pagnell at about 03:00 on 26 August.

A minibus was waiting to go around Mr Masierak's lorry when David Wagstaff, 54, ploughed into the back of the van.

Mr Masierak's boss said he did not smell of alcohol when he started work.

AIM Logistics supervisor Mariusz Mazurek told Reading Crown Court the lorry driver seemed fine and did not smell of alcohol when he signed in for his shift.

The driver of the minibus and seven passengers died in the crash.

They were travelling from Nottingham to London to catch a coach to Disneyland Paris at the time of the crash.

Ryszard Masierak's supervisor said he appeared normal when he started his shift

Lorry driver Matthew Norwood told the court he saw Mr Masierak's vehicle in the inside lane as he was driving back to his base in Milton Keynes.

"I looked over in disbelief," he said.

"There was no movement in the cab. I would expect someone to be on the cab, talking to someone on the phone if they had broken down."

Another driver, Jared Peel, told the jury he pressed his horn as he went around Mr Masierak's lorry "to try and get his attention and to warn him that what he was doing was dangerous".

Dash cam footage of Mr Peel going around the lorry to avoid a crash was shown in court.

Mr Masierak, of Barnards Close in Evesham, Worcestershire, and Mr Wagstaff, of Derwent Street in Stoke-on-Trent both face eight charges of causing death by dangerous driving.

The two men are also charged with four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and Mr Masierak faces an additional charge of drinking and driving.

They both deny all charges against them.

The trial continues.