THE Evesham lorry driver accused of causing the death of eight people on the M1 had been asleep in his lorry for more than 12 minutes when the crash happened, a court heard.

Prosecutor Nigel Ogborne said that Ryszard Masierak, 31, from Barnards Close, Evesham had been asleep in his stationary lorry in the inside lane.

The court was also told Masierak did not have a lorry licence, as it had been revoked, when he made his application for bail to a Crown Court judge.

Judge Francis Sheridan pointed out his employers were not to blame.

He said: "VOSA has revoked his licence and sent paperwork to his last address. Of course his employers weren't aware and they are not to blame. However, I refuse bail."

Masierak has been held in custody since the lorry he was driving was involved in the crash in Buckinghamshire near Newport Pagnell.

He was charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving, four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and eight counts of causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit.

Judge Sheridan refused bail for Maseriak and adjourned a plea and trial preparation hearing for six weeks so that the families of the dead had time to bury their loved ones.

Eight people were killed when a Ford Transit minibus, driving in the same lane as the one where Masierak had stopped, tried to switch lanes to move around his Scania lorry but there was a crash involving a second lorry, a Mercedes Benz, a court previously heard.

Masierak later gave a reading of 55mg of alcohol in a 100ml sample of breath, magistrates were told.

The legal limit is 35mg per 100ml of breath.

Masierak, of Evesham, was due to reappear at the same court, alongside his co-defendant David Wagstaff, who was granted bail, on October 27 before the case was adjourned.

Wagstaff, 53, of Stoke-on-Trent was also charged with eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts causing serious injury by dangerous driving.