Two men died in a seven vehicle pile-up after an exhausted lorry driver fell asleep at the wheel, an Old Bailey court heard.

The lorry driver and three of his bosses now stand accused of causing the smash on the M25 in South Ockendon.

The Old Bailey heard the driver was left so tired by his long shifts that he dozed off. His vehicle then ploughed into the back of a skip lorry, sending it crashing onto the opposite carriageway and landing on top of a car.

The drivers of the skip lorry and the car were killed. They were Peter Morgan, 48, from Shirley, Birmingham, and Barry Davies, 38, from Dagenham.

Lorry driver Andrew Cox, 34, from Slough, has denied causing the deaths of Barry Davies and Peter Morgan by driving his lorry dangerously on October 16, 1997.

The directors of his company, Roy Bowles Transport, Stephen Bowles, 45, from Old Windsor, his sister Julie Bowles, 41, from Ascot, and Victor Gilliard, 54, from Sunbury on Thames, have all denied manslaughter.

Sir Derek Spencer, QC, prosecuting, said Cox was "driving in a dangerously defective state through exhaustion. He had not had proper rest periods for a long time. As a result he went to sleep. It was an accident waiting to happen."

The prosecution alleged that he had been driving in that condition for some time before the accident.

"He was perfectly aware of his condition, so therefore was guilty of causing the death of the other two drivers by dangerous driving" said Mr Spencer.

He added that the directors were his employers and had a duty to put a system in place to check what he was doing and to respond to any evidence he was not complying with the law, but had "signally failed to do so".

It is claimed that Cox earned £161.23 for a 40-hour week, working Thursday to Monday, but actually worked 60 hours or more, without proper breaks, in order to earn more money.

The case continues.

Flashback - the seven-vehicle pile-up that claimed the lives of two men in 1997

Picture: ANDY PALMER

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