Moment ‘Royal Mail lorry driver nods off at wheel killing grandfather in crash’

CCTV played in court today shows Stefan-Alexandru Bloj’s 44-tonne HGV smash into the back of David Sullivan’s white Citroen Relay van at a roundabout off a motorway

This is the moment a Royal Mail lorry driver was said to have nodded off at the wheel before allegedly killing a grandfather of six by crashing into the back of his van was caught on camera.

CCTV was played in court today showing Stefan-Alexandru Bloj’s 44-tonne HGV smash into the back of a white Citroen Relay van at a roundabout off a motorway. It caused a “domino effect” collision with a Nissan Navara and a Mercedes Vito van.

Witnesses compared the shunt to an “explosion” and it resulted in David Sullivan, 64, suffering devastating injuries. The grandfather died despite the best efforts of a witness to the crash performing CPR for 10 minutes. Mr Sullivan’s family said the man, from East Sussex, is “very sorely missed by everyone who knew and loved him”.

Bloj, 34, stands trial at Southampton Crown Court this week, accused of causing death by dangerous driving. Jurors today heard the defendant had just three hours of sleep in the 24-hour period before the night shift and had used his rest breaks to watch videos on his phone and text his partner. The driver told jurors that, since the crash, he has been diagnosed with a “severe” sleep condition called obstructive sleep apnoea.

Bloj, an agency worker, was on his first-ever night shift when the smash happened and had only started working for the Royal Mail a week prior. He was driving down the M271 near Redbridge, Southampton, on November 17, 2022, in his Mercedes Actros lorry when he approached the roundabout.

The defendant was allegedly asleep behind the wheel and hit the van whilst travelling at a speed of less than 40mph. One driver, David Morris, performed CPR on Mr Sullivan for over ten minutes until paramedics arrived and motorist Thomas Boas said the impact of the crash was so great his glasses came flying off.

Opening the trial, Prosecutor Tana Adkin KC said: “David Sullivan was driving a white Citroen Relay Van, south along the M271 towards Southampton. The weather was fine, it wasn’t raining at the time and the sun had risen, visibility was good and the road surface was dry.

“As the driver approached the Redbridge roundabout, he slowed it down in order to negotiate the roundabout. Mr Sullivan was driving at a good slow speed and he left a gap between his vehicle and Mr Boas’. Mr Boas saw [the lorry] travelling fast towards the Relay van behind him. The large road lorry did not stop and hit Mr Sullivan’s van, causing it to hoist up into the air and into Mr Boas’ vehicle.”

After being hit by Bloj’s Mercedes Actros lorry around 8.30am on November 17 2020, Mr Sullivan died from devastating injuries. Giving evidence, Bloj said at the time he thought he was fit to drive and he “had no problems with sleep before the collision”.

However, he said he was diagnosed with “severe” sleep apnoea – when your breathing stops and starts while you sleep, causing sleepiness in the day – following a trip to his home country of Romania after the crash.

He told jurors: “I was in a big depression for a couple of months. I flew back to Romania to have the support of my family back there. They noticed that I was snoring loudly when I was sleeping so that was a concern. I came back to the UK to the UK and I went to see my GP.”

Before the crash, Bloj had slept for just three hours – with half an hour being in the previous morning and two and a half hours being a short sleep before work.

He told the court, however, that with this amount of sleep, he still felt OK to drive and denied feeling tired the day before. Bloj said he cannot recall the events, adding: “I had to open the seat belt and get out. I was in shock and I didn’t understand what happened.

“It made me feel very, very bad and shocked, I went to go and see what happened. I feel deeply bad about what happened to him [Mr Sullivan] and feel bad for his family also and I assure them that this will stay with me for life.”

Mr Sullivan leaves behind a wife, two children, three step-children, and six grandchildren. Bloj, from Southsea, Hampshire, denies causing death by dangerous driving.