Shocking footage of a lorry driver doing a u-turn on the M6 Toll has
been released by motorway police after he was given a suspended prison sentence. Leonid Papachin drove the wrong way down the slip road at junction T5 and, after realising his error, pulled onto the hard shoulder at around 5.30pm on Thursday 23 October. The 51-year-old then tried to rectify his mistake by executing a highly dangerous and illegal manoeuvre into the path of three lanes of on-coming traffic. The footage shows Papachin’s 40+ tonne truck complete the u-turn and then drive off in the right direction. Motorway police, alerted by CCTV controllers, stopped the wagon a short time later, where the driver was arrested and charged with dangerous driving. Papachin, from Lithuania, was remanded in custody and appeared at Cannock Magistrates Court on 30 October where he was sentenced to 15 weeks in prison, suspended for two years and ordered to pay £85 costs. He was also disqualified from driving for 18 months after which he will be required to pass an extended test of competence.