Royal Mail lorry driver spent sleep breaks during first night shift texting before fatal crash

A Royal Mail lorry driver, on his first night shift, spent his sleep breaks texting before killing a grandfather-of-six in a crash.

Stefan-Alexandru Bloj was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and has been sentenced to four years in prison.

He killed 64-year-old David Sullivan after smashing into the back of his Citroen Relay van on the M271.

Southampton Crown Court heard Mr Sullivan, from Wivelsfield Green, near Lewes, East Sussex, had slowed down as he approached Redbridge roundabout.

But the court heard how Bloj did not slow down, in his 44-tonne Royal Mail lorry, which then crashed into the back of the van at about 8.30am, on 17 November 2020.

A trial last month heard how Bloj had fallen asleep at the wheel, after using his sleep breaks to phone his partner and watch videos.

He had only slept for five hours in a 24-hour period.

In addition to his prison sentence, Bloj has been given a two-year driving ban, with an extended re-test.

Detective Sergeant Cate Paling, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: "Bloj drove lorries for a living and knew the dangers of not taking designated sleep breaks.

"His selfish decision to instead use this time to watch videos on his phone meant he was completely unfit to drive through tiredness, endangering the lives of other drivers as well as his own. Our thoughts remain with Mr Sullivan's family."

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