A driver who killed four Londoners in a crash on the M25 has admitted causing their deaths. Ethan Burdett, 67, of Ipswich Haven Marina, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to causing the death of four people due to careless driving on Tuesday (April 16) at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Burdett crashed his lorry into the rear of a minibus on the M25 in Waltham Abbey in August 2021. As Burdett approached the exit slip road to junction 26, he failed to react to stationary traffic and went into the back of the minibus, shunting it forward and causing it to collide with a car.
The minibus was carrying 11 passengers who were returning to London following a day trip to Southend. Of the 11, four were seriously injured with three and the driver of the car all sustaining minor injuries. Sadly, Abigael Muamba, 31, from Edmonton Green, Dexter Augustus, 60, from Waltham Forest, and Jennifer Smith, 59, from Stratford, died because of the collision.
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A fourth person, Lisa Gardiner, 44, from Walthamstow, later died of her injuries. That section of the M25 was closed for 11-and-a-half hours after the crash.
Essex Roads Policing officer, Detective Inspector Mark Fraser, who led the investigation, said: “My thoughts, and those of all my officers who have been involved in the investigation, continue to be with the families and friends who lost their loved ones that evening.”
Ethan Burdett will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, July 4.
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