Cambridgeshire minibus crash driver found guilty over three deaths

A minibus driver has been found guilty of causing the deaths of three passengers as he drove them home from a Christmas market.

The crash happened near Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire, on 14 November 2019.

Bogdan Ksiazek, 44, was taking 18 passengers home to the Midlands from the market in Ely, Cambridgeshire.

He admitted causing death by careless driving but was convicted of the more serious charge of causing their deaths by dangerous driving.

Mr Ksiazek, from Towcester, Northamptonshire, was found guilty by majority verdicts of 10 to two.

He had also denied a further eight counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving but was found guilty by the same majority.

During the trial, the court heard the passengers on the minibus were all retired and aged in their 70s and 80s.

Margaret Henwood, 85, Barbara McGruer, 86, and Richard Kenworthy, 72, died in the crash with a Volkswagen Golf on the B1040 at the Somersham Road crossroads.

Robert Forrest, prosecuting, had told the court Ksiazek was navigating using Google Maps on his phone, held in a cradle in the minibus, and had been diverted along a route with which he was not familiar.

He said the defendant failed to give way at the crossroads where Bluntisham Heath Road met the B1040 Somersham Road and "that failure to give way caused... catastrophic consequences".

A further eight people sustained serious injuries, including seven minibus passengers and the driver of the Golf.

Ksiazek is expected to be sentenced on Wednesday.

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