A MINIBUS driver from Hampshire was on the wrong side of the road when he crashed into a lorry heading in the opposite direction, killing the sleeping passenger he considered 'a brother'.

Pawel Szumlanski had only just picked up a female passenger who shouted 'lorry!' but it was too late to avoid the 'catastrophic' crash with the HGV near Pinvin which peeled off the roof of the minibus.

Kamil Jerzy Lasocha, who was asleep on an ad hoc bunk in the back, died in the crash, suffering multiple injuries. Mr Lasocha, the cousin of the driver's wife, was aged in his 20s and had become a father three months before.

The 37-year-old defendant of Chase Road, Lindford, Bordon in Hampshire had already entered a guilty to causing death by dangerous driving when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court for sentence on Wednesday.

Father-of-three Szumlanski had been behind the wheel of a Mercedes Sprinter van, converted into a minibus, when the fatal crash occurred on the A44 at Allen's Hill, near Pinvin on Sunday, September 6 last year at around 9.45pm.

Simon Phillips, prosecuting, said the minibus was a Polish-registered left-hand drive vehicle and that the man who died was asleep in an ad hoc bunk in the rear seat.

Both the defendant and the man who died had been co-drivers on the trip and the minibus had only just picked up a female passenger, travelling around 320 metres on the wrong side of the road when the crash happened.

Szumlanski, who could be seen wiping away tears during the hearing, had been driving towards Worcester when he crashed into the Scania articulated lorry, driven by Patrick Taylor, which was travelling in the opposite direction, towards Evesham.

Mr Phillips said the female passenger described the minibus turning right onto the main road.

He added: "She immediately thought the driver (the defendant) was too far to the right and, quite quickly after moving off, she saw the lights of an approaching vehicle.

"She could see it was a lorry. It appeared to be heading straight towards the minibus. She expected it to react but neither vehicle did. After a few seconds she shouted 'lorry!' and the minibus turned to the right to try and avoid the approaching lorry."

Before the crash she managed to bend down behind the seats, avoiding serious injury. The lorry hit the rear left hand side of the minibus which was where Mr Lasocha sleeping.

"The Mercedes van suffered catastrophic damage. The roof of the van is peeled off and the rear left hand side is completely and utterly destroyed by the impact with the lorry" said Mr Phillips.

Mr Lasocha died from multiple internal injuries. The defendant was cared for first at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester before he was transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham having suffered extensive injuries himself including a ruptured spleen which later had to be removed, an open fracture of the left arm and nine broken ribs.

Szumlanski later said he had no recollection of the crash, remembering turning right onto the main road but then describing 'darkness until the hospital'.

He had no convictions in the UK but did have convictions for speeding in Poland while working for DHL. The court accepted that the driver was rested at the time of the crash and had not been distracted by using a mobile phone or loud music and had not been impaired by drink or drugs.

Mr Taylor had been returning to his place of work and the minibus, part of an ErgoBus, which transported people and goods between the UK and Poland, was on a return journey to Poland.

The defendant had started work for the company four weeks beforehand and was still on his probationary period but did have previous experience driving on UK roads.

Alun Williams, defending, said his client had suffered 'a momentary lapse of concentration' and that 'the guilt will no doubt be with him forever'.

"Mr Lasocha was a cousin of his wife, a man he considered more like a brother. He knew Mr Lasocha from birth and he wishes that it was he that was taken from this earth not Mr Lasocha," said the barrister.

Judge James Burbidge QC sentenced Szumlanski to 14 months in prison. He can expect to serve half on remand and half on licence. He was disqualified from driving for two years and seven months so that the two year ban will begin when he is released at the halfway point of his sentence.