Sebastian M. sentenced to 8 years for A1 crash

In brief

• 8 years in prison, a 15-year driving ban and 2.5 million PLN in compensation – that is the sentence handed to Sebastian M. (source 1, 2, 3, 4)
• 8 years is both the sentence imposed and the maximum penalty under Article 177 § 2 of the Criminal Code (from 6 months to 8 years) (source 3, 5)
• The crash occurred on September 16, 2023, on the A1 near Piotrków Trybunalski; a family of three died (source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Verdict: 8 years in prison, 15-year ban, 2.5 million PLN

Eight years of imprisonment, a 15-year ban on driving all motor vehicles and 2.5 million PLN in compensation for the victims' relatives. The District Court in Piotrków Trybunalski announced the verdict on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, after 1 p.m.

• The sentence of 8 years is the maximum penalty provided for in Article 177 § 2 of the Criminal Code for unintentionally causing a fatal crash — in the wording in force on the day of the incident.
• The court additionally awarded 250,000 PLN to the State Treasury.
• The period Sebastian M. spent in detention in Poland and in isolation abroad was credited toward his sentence.
• He will be able to apply for early release after serving three-quarters of his sentence, that is, after six years.
• The verdict is not final. The parties may appeal.

As Judge Renata Folkman described in detail the injuries the family sustained, the victims' relatives were unable to hold back their tears.

The scale of the ruling is a consequence of the legal classification, not a moral assessment of the act. Two weeks before the verdict was announced, the prosecution requested exactly this penalty — stating outright that the state does not have a punishment fully matching the weight of the tragedy. The attorney for the victims' families, Łukasz Kowalski, said in the courtroom that if the law allowed him to seek 20 or 30 years, he would request exactly that.

What it was about: the A1 crash of September 16, 2023

• On the evening of September 16, 2023, on the A1 motorway near Piotrków Trybunalski. Near the village of Sierosław, on the carriageway toward Katowice, a BMW collided with a Kia, which hit the crash barriers and burst into flames.
• A family of three from Myszków was travelling in the Kia: Patryk and Martyna Biali and their five-year-old son Oliwier. All died at the scene.
• Experts from the crash reconstruction team presented an opinion in court showing that the defendant's BMW was travelling at between 315 and 329 km/h. The Kia was driving with cruise control on at about 140 km/h.
• The experts determined unequivocally: before the collision, the Kia driver did not change his lane and drove in the middle lane the entire time. This undermines the defence's version that the car suddenly pulled in front of the BMW.
• The defence challenged the experts' findings, and Sebastian M. sought acquittal. The court rejected the opinion it presented in its entirety.
• After the crash, the defendant left Poland. He was brought back to the country in May 2025 from the United Arab Emirates. From that moment he remained in detention.

The stakes were high, because the classification under Article 177 § 2 of the Criminal Code sets the upper limit of the penalty at eight years, regardless of the number of victims. The relatives of Patryk, Martyna and Oliwier demanded that murder with dolus eventualis be considered, but the prosecution did not bring such a charge.

8 years – the sentence imposed, being the upper limit under the code

Eight years is not the court's whim, but a ceiling that could not be exceeded. Two weeks before the verdict was announced, the prosecution requested that Sebastian M. be sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. As emphasised in the indictment, this is the highest possible penalty resulting from the adopted legal classification.

The basis is Article 177 § 2 of the Criminal Code. The provision covers the unintentional causing of a traffic crash resulting in the death of another person or grievous bodily harm. The penalty range: from six months to eight years of imprisonment. Exactly what was ultimately imposed.

After the amendment of December 4, 2025, Article 177 § 2a of the Criminal Code appeared, which toughens liability for unintentionally causing a fatal crash in special, dangerous circumstances, including during an illegal race. Such an act carries from one to 10 years. However, in the case of the crash of September 16, 2023, the court imposed the highest penalty possible as of the date of the incident.

The victims' relatives and their attorney sought consideration of a harsher classification: murder with dolus eventualis. The prosecution did not accept such a charge.

Prosecutor Aleksander Duda of the District Prosecutor's Office in Katowice said in his closing speech: "The state does not have, in this case, a punishment fully matching the weight of this tragedy. There is no punishment that will restore to the family of Patryk, Martyna and Oliwier the future that Sebastian M. annihilated within a few seconds. There is only the highest penalty that may be imposed in accordance with the law. That is eight years of imprisonment."

The catch is that the eight from Article 177 § 2 is both the sentence and the statutory maximum. If the December 2025 amendment had been in force on the day of the crash, the upper limit could have reached ten years.

The trial and the parties' positions

The trial before the District Court in Piotrków Trybunalski lasted a year. In total, nearly 30 volumes of case files were collected. Judge Renata Folkman heard crash witnesses, police officers and firefighters who worked at the scene, passengers of the BMW, the owners of a company that improved the performance of the defendant's car, and a former employee of Sebastian M. Experts from the crash reconstruction team presented an extensive opinion. They determined that the defendant's BMW was travelling at between 315 and 329 km/h, while the Kia was moving with cruise control on at about 140 km/h and did not change its lane.

In May 2025, Sebastian M. was brought to Poland from the United Arab Emirates, where he had fled after the crash. Since then he had been in detention.

The defendant's defence lawyer, attorney Katarzyna Hebda, requested acquittal and challenged the experts' findings regarding the course of the crash. The court rejected this argument. The attorney for the victims' families, lawyer Łukasz Kowalski, said in the courtroom that if the provision gave him such a possibility, he would seek 20 or even 30 years in prison.

The defendant apologised. "There is not a day when I do not think about the crash that should never have happened. This tragedy changed the fate and lives of many families. I exceeded the speed limit, which I should not have allowed" — he said. Nevertheless, he sought acquittal.

Sources

• Gazeta.pl: Sebastian M. skazany. Osiem lat więzienia za spowodowanie wypadku na A1
• Radio Łódź: Sebastian M. usłyszał wyrok. Maksymalna kara!
• Rzeczpospolita: Jest wyrok w sprawie Sebastiana M. Najwyższa możliwa kara
• RMF24: Sebastian M. usłyszał wyrok. Sąd skazał go w sprawie tragedii na A1
• Zero.pl: Wyrok w sprawie Sebastiana M. Dlaczego grozi mu maksymalnie 8 lat więzienia?

Article prepared with the help of artificial intelligence based on: Gazeta.pl, Radio Łódź, Rzeczpospolita, RMF24, Zero.pl. Facts checked automatically against these sources. The Wiadomości PRO newsroom is responsible for this publication.