Lorry driver who killed three people was on his phone watching Ladbible Facebook video - and is jailed for 12 years

Michal Kopaniarz, of Park Road, Donnington, Shropshire, pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to three charges of causing death by dangerous driving in December following the horror crash on the A303 near Andover on August 25, 2021.

Police forensic work not only proved that he had been on his phone – but that he had been watching a LadBible video on Facebook while on the busy dual carriageway.

Today he was being sentenced for causing the deaths of Alex Britton, 28, from Fifth Avenue, Portsmouth, Tina Ince, 58, and Tom Watson, 30, both from Southampton.

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They were all in separate vehicles and were pronounced dead at the scene following the crash after the defendant’s HGV smashed into a Mercedes food delivery van, Vauxhall Astra and a DAF recovery truck. Mr Watson, in the recovery truck and Ms Ince, in the food van, had stopped to help Ms Britton whose Astra was at the side of the road, at about 8.30am. It happened on the westbound carriageway of the A303 at Picket Twenty.

The 39-year-old also admitted perverting the course of justice by destroying a Samsung mobile he was using at the time of the smash to cover up being on the phone at the time of the crash.

Simon Jones, prosecuting, told the court the defendant had been driving at 56mph with a ‘clear view’ of 170metres while on his mobile phone before it was too late to avoid crashing into stationary vehicles. ‘All three were killed instantly suffering catastrophic injuries.’

He suggested the emergency brake was not deployed until it was too late before adding: ‘Whether the emergency brake was working, he was simply not in a position to apply it as he was looking at his phone.’

Kopaniarz did not brake until between nine and 12 metres from the vehicles.

In the aftermath of the crash, Kopaniarz said to drivers who stopped to assist: ‘I don’t know what happened, I don’t know what happened. I killed them.’

He added that he ‘couldn’t see them’ and was unable to stop a nine ton lorry in time.

While his victims were dead, Kopaniarz then ‘snapped’ his phone in two and threw it away in nearby bushes to hide that he was on the phone. But police later found the phone and rebuilt it before analysis revealed what he had been doing.

Judge Angela Morris said: ‘(Kopaniarz) was watching a video for the best part of seven minutes on his phone. Then he uploaded the video and shared it and then he used the same phone to input his destination at 56mph…an act he would have to do consciously.’

She added: ‘Your mobile phone played a major contributing factor to the collision. If you were paying attention you could not have failed to see the problem ahead.’

Speaking of the impact on the victims’ families, the judge said: ‘They were all dearly loved it and will take many years to come to terms with life without them.’

Aaron Law, Alex’s fiance, told the court in a victim statement how he was now ‘broken’ man, with the crash having a ‘devastating’ impact on himself and their two young girls - with Alex his ‘rock’ and ‘entire world’ who was ‘stolen from me’. ‘Being a dad is the greatest achievement of my life and now I have to do it alone,’ he said.

Alex’s mum Avril Swain said: ‘Alex was a kind, thoughtful, sensitive and strong who would do anything for anyone. I am enraged they were killed by such a mindless thing. The hole Alex has left is immense.’

The mum said she was ‘clever’ and a ‘wonderful mummy’, who wanted to be a teacher.

Avril’s husband Ian Swain, step dad to Alex, added to Kopaniarz: ‘You brutally killed three people by not paying attention and deliberately tried to cover your tracks.’

Kopaniarz was also banned from driving for 16 years.

Emma Watson, the widow of Mr Watson, who was working out of the Portsmouth depot of RD Avery at the time of his death, said: ‘I miss him every second of every day, this has changed my life, I do not sleep very well and wake in the early hours of the morning thinking of the life and happiness we had planned.

‘Tom was amazing with children, he would have been a great father, he wanted us to start a family together, grow old together, you have stolen that from us.’

Lucy Linington, CPS Wessex Senior Crown Prosecutor, said: “Not only did Michal Kopaniarz cause the deaths of Alexandra, Tina and Thomas, by driving dangerously, but he also tried to minimise his culpability by attempting to destroy evidence that would implicate him.

“He obviously sought to pervert the course of justice when he broke his phone in half and later he lied to police in interview about being on his phone.

“It is astounding that he had the presence of mind to find the phone in his cab and destroy it having just caused the death of three people in what can only be described as horrifying circumstances, and circumstances that were entirely avoidable.

“Our thoughts remain with the victims’ families today, who have all suffered such a dreadful loss of their loved ones. We hope that today’s outcome will at least provide a small comfort that justice has been delivered.”