The court in the central city of Piotrków Trybunalski on Wednesday sentenced Sebastian M. to eight years in prison for a crash on the A1 motorway in 2023 that killed a couple and their five-year-old son.
The verdict is subject to appeal and represents the maximum prison sentence available under the legal classification applied in the indictment.
The District Court in Piotrków Trybunalski also ordered Sebastian M. to pay a total of PLN 2.5 million in compensation to the victims’ relatives.
The payments include PLN 500,000 each for the parents of the deceased and the brother of one of the victims.
The court also banned Sebastian M. from driving motor vehicles for 15 years.
The court ruled that Sebastian M. will be eligible to apply for conditional release only after serving three-quarters of his sentence, or six years.
Both the defendant and his lawyer had sought an acquittal, while the prosecution requested an eight-year prison term.
Judge Renata Folkman said the defendant had used a public road to test the top speed of his modified BMW instead of taking it to a Formula One circuit.
She said it was unclear how many similar high-speed tests he had conducted before the crash, which killed the entire family.
The judge said Sebastian M. had removed the factory-installed speed limiter, which had restricted the car to 250 kilometres per hour, and drove at racing speeds on a public motorway, where the maximum allowable speed is 140 kph.
She described his conduct as an extreme violation of traffic regulations and road safety principles.
According to the judge, the defendant had recklessly assumed that nothing would happen, as during an earlier drive at 304 kph with one of his employees. His driving led to the collision that killed "Patryk, Martyna and their son Oliwier," she said.
Judge Renata Folkman. Photo: PAP/Marian Zubrzycki
The court also called for consideration of stricter criminal liability for drivers who use public roads for racing and flagrantly violate traffic safety rules, particularly when their actions cause deaths.
It raised the question of whether regulations should restrict modifications that increase engine power or the removal of factory-installed speed limiters.
The crash occurred on September 16, 2023, near the village of Sierosław, close to Piotrków Trybunalski, on the A1 motorway towards the southern city of Katowice.
The BMW driven by Sebastian M. collided with a Kia, which struck the safety barriers and caught fire.
The couple and their five-year-old son, who were travelling in the Kia, died at the scene.
Experts estimated that the BMW was travelling at between 315 and 329 kph, while the Kia was moving at approximately 140 kph with its cruise control switched on.
Sebastian M. was brought back to Poland from the United Arab Emirates in May last year, after fleeing there following the crash. He has been in pre-trial detention since his return.
The trial in Piotrków Trybunalski lasted a year.
(pg/gs)