Leeds - The motorist accused of causing the deaths of 10 men in the Selby rail disaster in England fell asleep at the wheel after staying up all night chatting on the phone to a woman he met on the internet, a court heard yesterday.
Self-employed builder Mr Gary Hart claimed he was "buzzing with excitement" about his relationship with Ms Kristeen Panter as he drove from his home in Strubby, Lincs, along the M62 on February 28th this year, a jury was told. But the prosecution allege that Mr Hart was exhausted after spending all night talking to his new-found companion and fell asleep while driving on the motorway.
The court heard how he came into contact with with Mrs Panter eight days before the tragedy and was due to meet her for the first time on the night of the crash after developing a "high degree of mutual interest" through telephone conversations and mobile text messages.
But as Hart approached a bridge over the East Coast main railway line his Land Rover Defender, which was towing a trailer loaded with a Renault car, left the carriageway, plunged down an embankment and came to rest on the tracks. At the start of his trial at Leeds Crown Court yesterday a jury of seven women and five men heard how seconds later the Land Rover was wrecked as a GNER express train, travelling at 117 mph ploughed into it.