A truck driver who killed three people when he plowed into slow-moving cars as he browsed through porn sites on his phone has given a tearful apology to the victim’s families from prison.
Ion Onut was trawling for "casual sexual partners" on websites including "S**g Today" while driving his Scania truck northbound on the A1 (M) when the vehicle burst into flames after crashing into two queueing cars at Bowburn, near Durham.
Paul Mullen, 51, from Washington, and couple Elaine Sullivan, 59, and David Daglish, 57, from Seaham, County Durham, died instantly. Two other women one of whom was pregnant were also seriously injured.
The horrific scenes were captured on dash cam footage in July 2021.
In Jan 2022, Onut was jailed for eight years and 10 months at Durham Crown Court, after admitting to three counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
The 41-year-old truck driver from Galashiels, Scotland, issued an apology when he was interviewed in prison as part of a BBC documentary titled Deadly Browsing: The Lorry Driver.
"The phone was a distraction, it was a really bad choice," Onut said.
"I want to apologize. I want to say I'm really sorry because I feel really bad for what happened."
"I feel bad for the people who lost loved ones, people injured who have to suffer with back flashes (flashbacks) and injuries for the rest of their lives."
"It's really hard to accept that, living for the rest of your life with that in your head is not easy either."
Junior Sullivan, who lost his mother and step-father in the crash, watched Onut’s apology on a screen.
"Neither of them can be brought back. Yes he's in prison now and he's got to think of it every day, but he had a wife and child," he said.
"His 13-year-old daughter has now got to live with the fact her dad killed three people, and injured and affected countless more people's lives by doing something that was completely avoidable."
The documentary uses police body-worn camera footage to show the immediate aftermath of the deadly crash, as well as the moment police asked Onut to hand over his phone.
It also features survivors who were injured and bystanders who raised the alarm and were left badly traumatized by the tragedy.
"People were in danger and now they have to suffer with flashbacks and injuries for the rest of their lives. It's really hard to see and live with that," Onut said, ITV reported.
"When I saw the videos of what happened it was unimaginable and hard to see. It was so disturbing knowing that was me in that lorry plowing through the cars."
"My life is never going to be the same again. I have to pay for my mistakes. Away from the real world, away from my friend and family," he said.
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