A 45-year-old Nigerian-British taxi driver, Kolawole Erunkulu, has been sentenced to six years in prison after falling asleep while driving and causing the de@th of 59-year-old Philip Dray in Surrey, UK.
Shortly before 6:30am on August 17, 2025, an Audi driven by Erunkulu swerved across the A23 in Merstham and struck Philip, who had safely parked his Volkswagen in a layby and was opening the driver’s door to get back inside. Philip died at the scene.
Erunkulu pleaded guilty to causing de@th by d@ngerous driving. Footage from his vehicle and data from his employers showed that he had driven for around 53 hours over the three days before the crash. His longest rest was seven hours, while other breaks lasted around four hours and two hours. Immediately before the collision, he had worked for about 12 hours with only minor breaks.
