Nigerian Taxi Driver in UK Jailed 6 Years for Killing Man After 53 Hours Behind the Wheel

• Kolawole Erunkulu, a taxi driver, veered off the A23 in Surrey and struck pedestrian Philip Dray, 59, who died at the scene
• Police found Erunkulu had logged 53 hours of driving in just three days before the crash, with his longest break only seven hours
• Dashcam footage captured Erunkulu yawning and closing his eyes moments before his vehicle crossed the carriageway

A taxi driver who accumulated a severe "sleep debt" by spending 53 hours behind the wheel in three days has been sentenced to six years in prison after a microsleep caused him to kill a man parked in a lay-by on the A23 in Merstham, Surrey.

Kolawole Erunkulu, 45, of Bexleyheath, south-east London, who holds joint British and Nigerian nationality, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in June 2026 and was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court last week.

He has also been disqualified from driving for eight years, with an extended retest required should he seek to reapply for his licence.

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Dashcam footage retrieved from Erunkulu's Audi showed him yawning repeatedly before his eyes closed at the wheel.

The Telegraph reported that the Surrey Police described the incident as a "microsleep" — a brief, involuntary episode lasting only seconds during which the brain ceases to process external information. It was during one such episode, in August last year, that his vehicle drifted across the carriageway.

Philip Dray, 59, had pulled into the lay-by to rest and was opening the driver's door of his Volkswagen to continue his journey when Erunkulu's car struck him. He died at the scene.

Investigators established that Erunkulu had driven for 53 hours over the three days preceding the collision, with his longest single rest period amounting to just seven hours. Police said this pattern had built up a significant "sleep debt" that left him dangerously impaired.

Sentencing Erunkulu, Judge Lees said: "The footage shows the defendant was extremely tired and, in my view, has continued to drive when he must have known that. He was driving commercially. Even though he didn't have a passenger, he could have done so, and has driven in that state. All of this could have been stopped had he slept."

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Erunkulu was first charged in March 2026. Surrey Police noted that had the case proceeded to a full trial rather than ending in a guilty plea, the sentence would have stood at nine years.

Source: YEN.com.gh