Two lorry drivers sentenced after fatal motorway crash in Britain

LONDON, March 23 (Xinhua) -- Two lorry drivers were sentenced on Friday for dangerous driving after a fatal motorway crash that killed eight people in Britain in August last year.

Ryszard Masierak, from Evesham in Worcestershire, is one of two heavy goods vehicles (HGV) drivers who was involved in the M1 pile-up on Aug. 26 last year.

The M1 is a south-north motorway in England connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK.

Four other passengers, including a four-year-old girl, were seriously injured in the crash, which happened near Newton Pagnell in Buckinghamshire.

The 31-year-old was sentenced to 14 years after being found guilty of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing injury by dangerous driving.

The Polish national denied being drunk, but a breathalyser test showed he was "likely to have been in the region of twice the legal limit" at the time of the crash, the court heard.

The second lorry driver, David Wagstaff from Stoke-on-Trent, was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving.

The 54-year-old was sentenced to 40 months. Enditem