Andover A303 crash: Lorry driver jailed over three deaths

A lorry driver who killed three people in a crash while he was on his mobile phone has been jailed for 12 years.

The victims had stopped in the nearside lane of the A303 near Andover in August 2021, Winchester Crown Court heard.

Alex Britton, 28, from Portsmouth, and Tina Ince, 58, and Tom Watson, 30, both from Southampton, died at the scene.

Michal Kopaniarz, 39, from Donnington, Shropshire, previously admitted causing their deaths by dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice.

Tina Ince, Alex Britton and Tom Watson died in the crash near Andover

Ms Britton's car had broken down at a point where the dual carriageway had no hard shoulder, a video shown in court revealed.

Ms Ince and Mr Watson, a recovery truck driver on his way to another job, stopped to help her, the court heard.

The defendant's articulated HGV ploughed into the three parked vehicles at 08:40 BST on 25 August, prosecutor Simon Jones said.

He said immediately beforehand Kopaniarz had spent seven minutes viewing and sharing a LADbible video on his phone.

Lorry driver Michal Kopaniarz admitted driving while using his mobile phone

Moments before the collision the driver typed a destination into his phone's mapping app, Mr Jones added.

Kopaniarz only began to brake less than one second before the crash, he told the court.

The three victims suffered "catastrophic fatal injuries" when they were struck by vehicles and debris, the barrister said.

He said Kopaniarz snapped his mobile phone at the scene and left it on the verge, an incident caught on his own dashcam, only later pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.

Ms Britton's partner, Aaron Law, shook with emotion in court as he detailed the effect of her death on their two daughters.

'Mindless'

"No more mummy cuddles, no more kisses, no more giggles, no more anything... You took away our happy ever after," he told the court.

Her mother Avril Swain said she was "enraged" at the "mindless" incident while Mr Watson's wife, Emma, wept as she said her world had been destroyed.

Ms Ince's daughter, Melissa Green, said she had been "living on autopilot" after losing her "kind, selfless and generous" mother.

Kopaniarz, originally from Poland, had written a note to the families expressing his "gut-wrenching regret", the court was told.

Flowers and a memorial made from recovery chains were left near the scene of the crash

Judge Angela Morris said Ms Ince and Mr Watson were doing "what any conscientious motorist would do" by stopping in lane one to help Ms Britton and turning on warning lights.

She said: "They could not have acted with any more attention to ensure motorists saw them and to create a barrier around the vehicle."

The judge said Kopaniarz's use of his mobile phone demonstrated a "lamentable lack of respect... for the safety of other road users".

She told him his "deliberate and unconscionable decision" to dispose of his phone was the "action of a desperate man trying to minimise your culpability".

"You maintained a constant speed of around 56mph [90kmph] to the point of impact," she added.

"You were not paying any attention whatsoever to the road in front of you."

The judge said Kopaniarz would be banned from driving for 10 years after his release from prison.