Close X
Sunday, December 22, 2024
ADVT 
International

Truck Drivers Deny Causing Road Crash Deaths Of 8 Indians In UK

Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Oct, 2017 01:40 PM
  • Truck Drivers Deny Causing Road Crash Deaths Of 8 Indians In UK
Two truck drivers charged with causing the deaths of eight Indians due to dangerous driving on a UK highway in August denied the allegations in court on Friday and will now stand trial on the charges.
 
Ryszard Masierak, a 31-year-old Polish national, and David Wagstaff, a 53-year-old British citizen, have both denied eight counts of death by dangerous driving after the crash near Newport Pagnell in southern England on August 26.
 
At a hearing in Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday, Masierak — who is also charged with being over the legal drink limit — was remanded in custody, while Wagstaff was given bail until their trial begins on February 26 next year.
 
Wagstaff pleaded guilty to eight lesser charges of causing death by "careless driving" but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it refused to accept the lesser charge and sought his trial on the more serious charge of "dangerous driving".
 
Both drivers were involved in what was described as one of the worst road accidents in the UK, when two heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) crushed a mini-bus carrying tourists.
 
Nottingham-based Keralite minibus driver Cyriac Joseph and seven of his passengers — all Indians — were killed in the crash.
 
The 52-year-old had been hired to drive his passengers from Nottingham to London to join a European holiday tour group.
 
The victims included IT professionals employed by Indian software company Wipro and their friends and family.
 
The Indian nationals who died in the collision were named as Karthikeyan Pugalur Ramasubramanian, 33, and his wife, Lavanyalakshmi Seetharaman, 32; Panneerselvam Annamalai, 63, Subramaniyan Arachelvan, 58, and his wife Tamilmani Arachelvan, 50; Vivek Baskaran, 26 and Rishi Rajeev Kumar, 27.
 
Another Wipro employee, Mano Ranjan Panneerselvam, was among four people critically injured.
 
At a previous hearing, Judge Francis Sheridan had rejected Masierak's bail plea when he was told that the Polish driver had reportedly fallen asleep in the slow lane of the highway just before the fatal collision.
 
"I am not going to grant bail in this case. This is the most serious road traffic collision which has come before the courts certainly in the last 10 years and the flight risk is enormous," the judge noted last month.
 
Masierak is charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving, four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit.
 
Wagstaff is also charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

MORE International ARTICLES

Indian-American Appointed Deputy Comptroller For Minority Affairs Of Nassau County

Indian-American Appointed Deputy Comptroller For Minority Affairs Of Nassau County
Indian American Dilip Chauhan has been appointed to a key position of Deputy Comptroller for Minority Affairs in New York's Nassau county.

Indian-American Appointed Deputy Comptroller For Minority Affairs Of Nassau County

Man Decapitates 37-Yr-Old Wife For Not Quitting Job In Pakistan

Man Decapitates 37-Yr-Old Wife For Not Quitting Job In Pakistan
Initial investigation shows the woman was killed by her husband Afraheem in the name of honour, said Maher Mumtaz, Superintendent of Police Saddar Division.

Man Decapitates 37-Yr-Old Wife For Not Quitting Job In Pakistan

Manchester Airport Pipe Bomb Plot: Nadeem Muhammad Guilty

Manchester Airport Pipe Bomb Plot: Nadeem Muhammad Guilty
A 43-year-old Pakistan-born man with an Italian passport was on Tuesday found guilty of trying to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a plane at Manchester Airport.

Manchester Airport Pipe Bomb Plot: Nadeem Muhammad Guilty

James Damore, The Google Employee Fired For His Anti-Diversity Manifesto By CEO Sundar Pichai

James Damore, The Google Employee Fired For His Anti-Diversity Manifesto By CEO Sundar Pichai
A memo written by a male engineer at Google about gender differences sparked a quick rebuttal from Google after it circulated widely online.

James Damore, The Google Employee Fired For His Anti-Diversity Manifesto By CEO Sundar Pichai

Not Going To Run Scared From North Korea: Nikki Haley

Not Going To Run Scared From North Korea: Nikki Haley
The US and the international community is “not going to run scared from North Korea”, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said after Pyongyang refused to roll back its nuclear weapons programme.

Not Going To Run Scared From North Korea: Nikki Haley

Wisconsin Sikh Tragedy Forms Mission To Combat Hatred

Wisconsin Sikh Tragedy Forms Mission To Combat Hatred
In the five years since a white supremacist fatally shot six worshippers at a Milwaukee-area Sikh temple, those affected by the tragedy have remained united by a mission to combat hatred.

Wisconsin Sikh Tragedy Forms Mission To Combat Hatred