M55 CRASH: Lorry driver surrenders passport as case begins into fatal m-way crash

The scene on the westbound M55 after a five vehicle smash

A man has made his first appearance at court charged with causing a death by carelessly driving a large articulated lorry which was involved in multi vehicle pile up on the M55.

Czechoslovakian Dusan Sverka, 35, was the driver of a Renault truck involved and is alleged to have driven into a line of vehicles waiting to leave the M55 at the Kirkham turn off on May 2 last year.

The build up of vehicles was so bad cars trying to leave the M55 were backed up onto the motorway itself, Malcolm Isherwood ,prosecuting told District Judge Jeff Brailsford sitting at Blackpool Magistrates Court.

Sverka, who runs a road freight company based at his home on Rochdale Road, Manchester, did not enter a plea.

The case against him was sent to Preston Crown Court where he will appear on May 23. The judge granted him bail until that hearing. Sverka has surrendered his passport to police as a term of his bail.

The prosecutor said one man died as a result of the pile up when his van was crushed between the Renault and another truck. T

hree other people were hurt.

Five vehicles were involved.

The prosecutor said that one of the vehicles involved had CCTV cameras fitted to its front and rear and footage from the cameras will be used in evidence.

On the day of the incident the M55 was closed for eight hours and the nearby A583 was also blocked by the weight of traffic diverted off the M55.