Lorry driver, 39, is charged with killing three motorists in HGV smash

Lorry driver, 39, is charged with killing three motorists including bride-to-be, 28, whose car had broken down and delivery driver, 58, who stopped to help her in horror HGV smash

• Lorry driver Michael Koparniaz, 39, killed three motorists in Hampshire last year
• Alex Britton, 28, had broken down, while  Tina Ince, 58, had stopped to help her
•  Koparniaz ploughed into them and DAF recovery truck driver Tom Watson, 30
• He was today charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving 

By Stewart Carr For Mailonline

Published: 21:19, 15 December 2022 | Updated: 23:05, 15 December 2022

A lorry driver was today charged with killing three motorists after his HGV ploughed into a mother-of-two, whose car had broken down, and two other motorists who stopped to help her.

Michal Kopaniarz, 39, will appear before a court accused of causing the three deaths in a horror smash on a major dual carriageway.

Bride-to-be Alex Britton, 28, was on her way to work in a Vauxhall Astra when she broke down on the A303 near Andover, Hampshire.

Good Samaritan Tina Ince, 58, was driving a Mercedes food delivery van when she stopped to help Miss Britton.

Michal Kopaniarz, 39, will appear before a court accused of three counts of causing death by dangerous driving, as well as perverting the course of justice

Mother of two and bride-to-be Alex Britton, 25, was killed on August 25 last year with two others when lorry driver Michal Koparniaz ploughed into their vehicles

Tragically, both women were killed along with DAF recovery truck driver Tom Watson, 30, when Kopaniarz’s lorry smashed into their vehicles around 8.40am on August 25 last year.

The road was closed for 21 hours following the crash.

Kopaniarz was today charged with three counts of causing death by dangerous driving and one count of perverting the course of justice, in relation to the incident which occurred just after 8.40am on 25 August 2021.

Kopaniarz, from Donnington, Shropshire, was remanded in custody and was due to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court, Hampshire, today.

Miss Britton, from Portsmouth, Hants, was mother to daughters Payton, three, and 18-month-old Ava at the time of the crash, and was due to marry her childhood sweetheart Aaron Law.

DAF recovery truck driver Tom Watson, 30, also died when Kopaniarz ploughed into the group’s vehicles on the A303 in Hampshire on August 25 last year

Tina Ince, 58, was killed when she stopped to help Miss Britton after she broke down

Mr Law said Miss Britton was an ‘amazing woman’ and that telling his daughters of their mother’s death was the hardest thing he has done.

Speaking after the crash, he said: ‘They’re never ever, ever, going to forget their mum.

‘She was really beautiful inside and out. She was amazing with (the children).’

Ms Ince, from Southampton, Hants, was praised by her family after she tried to help Miss Britton. They said: ‘Tina was a kind and generous person with a heart of gold.

‘She lived as she died – helping people.

Words do not begin to describe how much she will be missed by those who knew her.

She was strong, hardworking, and truly one of a kind.’

The family of Mr Watson, from Southampton, said he ‘loved his job’ and was described as ‘a kind-hearted, generous man who loved to help people and do anything for his family’.