Royal Mail lorry driver who fell asleep at the wheel and ploughed his 44-tonne HGV into the back of a car, killing a grandfather, ‘suffers from a severe sleep condition’, court hears

A Royal Mail lorry driver who fell asleep at the wheel and killed a grandfather has told a court he suffers from a ‘severe’ sleep condition.

Stefan-Alexandru Bloj told jurors that since his 44-tonne HGV ploughed into the back of David Sullivan’s Citroen on a motorway he has been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea.

The 34-year-old, who was on his first ever night shift for Royal Mail, also said he had just three hours sleep before working for over 14 hours.

A court previously heard that Romanian-born Bloj used his rest breaks to watch videos on his phone and text his partner.

Jurors have been told grandfather-of-six Mr Sullivan, 64, slowed down to approach a roundabout at the end of the M271 on the outskirts of Southampton, Hampshire, when Bloj’s lorry ploughed into the back of his vehicle at just under 40mph.

Grandfather-of-six was killed after Bloj’s 44-tonne HGV crashed into his Citroen Relay on the M271 outside Southampton

Witnesses who saw the horror smash compared it to an ‘explosion’ and said it had a ‘domino effect’, causing injuries to drivers in two cars in front of Mr Sullivan’s white Citroen Relay van.

After being hit by Bloj’s Mercedes Actros lorry around 8.30am on November 17, 2020, Sullivan died from his injuries.

Bloj, an agency worker who only started with the Royal Mail a week before the crash, denies causing death by dangerous driving.

Giving evidence at Southampton Crown Court, 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 the court: ‘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 okay 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.’

Prosecutor Tana Adkin KC told the court Bloj would have likely been suffering the condition at the time of the accident but had failed to recognise symptoms.

The day of the crash, a last minute alteration to the schedule meant Bloj was working longer than he intended to, it was heard.

He was concerned that the change would mean he would go over the maximum shift for a HGV driver of 15 hours.

Bloj said: ‘It was a problem to me because I was concerned there would not be enough time to go back to Eastleigh (the collection site) and unload, and then go back to Marchwood (the vehicle operation centre).

‘Before taking the load, I called my supervisor and informed him about what the other supervisor is asking me to do and I expressed my concern.’

The court heard he was playing Romanian shows on his phone while driving, however Bloj said he was just listening to them without watching the screen.

The trial continues.