A truck driver who murdered three people on the A1(M) while browsing adult dating sites has issued an emotional apology from behind bars.
In July 2021, Ion Onut’s taxi is seen exploding in flames and careening 320 feet toward County Durham after the original collision resulted in an explosion.
The Romanian, who admitted to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight years in prison in January, said in a BBC documentary that he would have to live with the suffering he had brought upon the distressed families and crash survivors.
In the forty minutes prior to the smash, he had been browsing the websites S**g Today and Mystic Match, had spent nearly £50 on credits to interact with users, and had been looking at and editing his own profile.
The court was informed that he last used his phone just before the crash and that he was “utterly oblivious” to the stationary cars in front of him.
Onut entered the traffic at 58 mph without using his brakes.
He caused the deaths of Paul Mullen from Washington, Tyne and Wear, the couple David Daglish and Elaine Sullivan from Seaham, County Durham, and others.
While physiotherapist Molly Smith, who was 26 weeks pregnant, was in the hospital.
The judge remarked to the 41-year-old that it would have been terrible enough if he had simply dozed off, but Onut had been searching the internet for potential sex partners, and his last conversation on his phone had taken place just seconds before impact.
Onut, who consented to participate in an interview while incarcerated for a BBC documentary titled Deadly Browsing: The Lorry Driver, broke down in tears and admitted he could have gone several hundred yards while using his phone.
“The phone was a distraction, it was a really bad choice,” Onut said.
He went on to say that after watching the video of him ramming into cars, he was “disturbed” to learn that he was responsible for the “tragic and sad” deaths of three people.
There are a million things I could tell people, he sighed when asked if he had a message for the grieving families.
My sincere apologies. I want to apologise deeply because I feel terrible about what occurred.
“I feel horrible for the people who lost loved ones and the injured people who will live with their injuries and back flashes for the rest of their life.”
“It’s incredibly difficult to accept that, and it’s also difficult to live the rest of your life with that in your thoughts.”
Junior Sullivan observed the prison apologies on a screen while his mother and stepfather were killed in the collision.
He said in the documentary: “Hopefully people will take something away from it if they watch it and think, “I don’t want to be that person, I don’t want to be in prison, I don’t want to have killed three people, I don’t want it on my conscience, look at what it’s done to that guy.”
In the documentary, it was revealed that Mr. Sullivan, a former soldier, now instructs soldiers on the risks associated with texting and driving.
The moment Onut is asked to hand over his phone by police as he is being arrested at the site for hazardous driving is also captured on police body-worn camera footage, along with the immediate aftermath of the fireball collision.
It also includes injured survivors and onlookers who raised the alarm but were severely traumatised by what they witnessed.
As Ms. Smith went shopping for a birthday present for her dog, traffic slowed down because of an earlier incident.
Like other drivers, she stopped her car, but Onut did not.
When driving the red car that is seen getting hit in the video, she told the BBC, “I just felt this impact from behind.”
“All of a sudden, I only remember hearing the sounds of metal crashing.”
“And then suddenly I was halted on the A1(M) with a load of flames all around me,” the speaker continued.
She claimed that at first she froze before relocating away from the fire because she was unsure whether any more automobiles would “explode.”
Since then, the physiotherapist gave birth to a healthy daughter.
Before continuing down the road and injuring three more people, Onut first struck the rear of the Vauxhall Crossland carrying Mr. Daglish, 57, and Ms. Sullivan, 59, before smashing Mr. Mullen’s Toyota Hilux, 51, under another lorry.
Judge James Adkin told the court in January of this year that Onut was searching the internet for casual sexual partners rather than falling asleep at the wheel, which would have been severe enough. Onut was given a 10-year driving prohibition after his release.
Nothing could have prepared Junior Sullivan, Ms. Sullivan’s son and Mr. Daglish’s stepson, for being awakened to learn that his parents had perished in a vehicle accident, he said in a victim personal statement read out in court.
I’m unable to explain what went through my thoughts at that precise moment, other than to say that everything in my life that had been ideal at the time was abruptly gone.
My world had just fallen apart at that precise moment, leaving me a shell. I was unable to speak or move.
People always say, “If there’s anything I can do,” as well as “it’s acceptable to be sad and cry or to be angry,” but what could anyone possibly do? There isn’t a manual on how to deal with losing both of your parents. for losing your entire family. For losing the individuals that genuinely gave everything to give you the best opportunity.
It’s difficult to put into words how much we miss our dad, according to Paul Mullen’s daughter Orlaigh Mullen.
Losing a parent is something you always think will never happen because you believe they are invincible.
“When we were kids, my dad was always there for us. He was the hardest-working man I have ever met and will ever meet, and we looked up to him. He put in so much effort for all of us.
I miss him coming home every Friday night and greeting us all with a big hug as he entered the house.
Following Onut’s sentence, Bethany Claire, Mr. Daglish and Ms. Sullivan’s daughter-in-law, wrote a tribute to the couple.
“I’ll spend every minute loving and nurturing [our] two children who now have just one grandmother left, loving and supporting the husband who now has no parents, and honouring your traditions wherever I can,” she declared.
“I won’t let [our children] miss out on present parents,” says the mother, “they have already lost out on so much.”
She also asked drivers to put their phones away while driving in order to prevent similar tragedies.
Just place your phone in the glove box when you’re driving, Ms. Claire said. Take the temptation away. It isn’t worthwhile.
Around 6.15 p.m. on July 15, 2021, Onut, a haulage worker who was living with his family in Galashiels, Scotland, was driving north with a load of fertiliser.
Traffic had backed up due to an earlier incident, and 50 mph was the posted speed limit along with warning signs instructing cars to slow down.
Prior to the collision, which happened close to the Bowburn junction, Onut was spotted weaving through lanes but did not slow down.
The prosecutor, Nick Dry, claimed that a review of Onut’s phone revealed that he had been using it heavily to browse the internet for 40 minutes prior to the crash while operating his lorry.
The phone was discovered to have been used continuously, according to Mr. Dry.
According to the history, the defendant had been visiting Mystic Match and S**g Today, two adult dating websites.
He had accomplished this while travelling at a constant pace of 50 mph.
He was driving a large goods vehicle on a busy highway while completely involved in online sexual pursuits for an extended period of time, Mr. Dry continued.