M1 crash: Two lorry drivers to stand trial after eight killed in motorway smash

Ryszard Masierak, 31, and David Wagstaff, 53, plead not guilty to 12 charges of dangerous driving

Court artist sketch of Ryszard Masierak (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Two lorry drivers are to stand trial over a horror crash on the M1 that left eight people dead.

Polish national Ryszard Masierak, 31, and Briton David Wagstaff, 53, appeared together at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday over the deadly crash on the southbound side of the motorway near Milton Keynes on 26 August.

They both pleaded not guilty to 12 charges in total - eight counts each of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts each of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Minibus driver Cyriac Joseph and seven of his Indian passengers en route to London from Nottingham were killed in the early morning collision on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend, and four others were seriously hurt.

The dead passengers, five men and two women, were Panneerselvam Annamalai, Rishi Ranjeev Kumar, Vivek Baskaran, Lavanyalakshmi Seetharaman, Karthikeyan Pugalur Ramasubramanian, Subramaniyan Arachelvan and Tamilmani Arachelvan.

The two defendants were driving two lorries that were involved in the crash, the court heard.

Family and friends of those killed and injured packed into the court for the hearing, sitting in front of the dock containing the defendants.

Wagstaff, of Stoke, pleaded guilty to eight lesser charges of causing death by careless driving, and four counts of careless driving.

However, prosecutor Peter Shaw told the court that "the Crown seeks a trial against Mr Wagstaff" over the more serious charges he denies.

Judge Francis Sheridan ordered that the men should stand trial from 26 February next year, with the hearings set to last two weeks.

Maseriak, of Evesham, Worcestershire, who appeared in court wearing a grey tracksuit, was remanded in custody following the hearing.

Wagstaff, who wore a dark suit, a checked shirt and patterned tie as he sat alongside him in the dock, was released on conditional bail.

PA