What a judge said as he sentenced a man for M27 crash

Ross Alex Neiland, 38, was sent down for nine years and nine months for causing the death of Michal Kaminski, 36, by dangerous driving on February 21, 2024. Neiland was expressionless as he was handed his sentence by Judge Peter Henry at Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday.

Everything Judge Henry told Neiland as he passed sentence

Michal Kaminski was going about his everyday job as a lorry driver. He was driving a light goods vehicle sensibly in vert bad conditions when you killed him.

He was a person with hope and ambition, a responsible man trying to make a living and a positive contribution to society. In her moving statement, his mother said you took the most loved person in the whole world. He had lots of plans to work, travel, form relationships, and have children.

He always knew he wanted to be a lorry driver. [Defence barrister] Mr Tom Horder, in his eloquent submissions, has set to paint a picture of you as a victim. I find it very difficult to accept you as a victim.

You seem to contribute very little to society, but you are quite happy to take from it, whether it is stealing or acting irresponsibly to those around you. It is a stark contrast to the life Mr Kaminski was enjoying until that day. You were driving at enormous speed and numerous witnesses spoke of your excessive speed, using words such as "zooming".

Mr Horder said you could've been as low as 88mph but even that is wholly inappropriate and excessive. There is a witness who speaks about seeing you "brake forcefully" and the car "lurching" towards the central reservation. And then there comes the almost inevitable incident.

Mr Horder has tried to persuade me this was the fault of the smart motorway for not telling people to drive slower or warn them of the standing water. But that does not detract from the situation, where you were driving far too fast and taking absolutely no notice of the danger you were creating. It may well be the motorway could've been drained better but that's the risk you were prepared to take driving in the way you did.

This was a case where you would've been well aware of the dangerous manner you were driving as you were going along that motorway, ducking from lane to lane, at enormous speed.

Mr Kaminski's death was utterly avoidable.

This is a complete tragedy for this family and friends, and the court has every sympathy with them.

References

1. ^ Prolific shoplifter raced down M27 in 'daredevil act' that killed lorry driver (www.dailyecho.co.uk)