Father and son who ran haulage business for 99p stores guilty of manslaughter after driver was crushed to death when he fell asleep at the wheel Stephen Kenyon crushed to death when his lorry crashed on M1 Adrian John McMurray and Adrian Paul McMurray convicted of killing A father and son who ran a haulage business for 99p stores have been found guilty of the manslaughter of one of their drivers who fell asleep at the wheel. Adrian John McMurray, 54, and Adrian Paul McMurray, 36, were convicted of the killing of Stephen Kenyon, from Milton Keynes. Father-of-four Mr Kenyon was crushed to death when his 39 tonne Renault lorry crashed into a line of stationary traffic on the southbound carriageway of the M1. Convicted: Adrian John McMurray, 54, right,and Adrian Paul McMurray, 36, left, were convicted of the killing of Stephen Kenyon The jury at St Albans Crown Court was told the death was 'an accident waiting to happen' as the the Mr Kenyon had been working for more than 19 hours and had been driving for over 13 of them. Road haulage legislation states that truckers can only drive large commercial lorries for a maximum of 10 hours in a 24 hour period, and then only two days a week. For the rest of the week, the maximum time they can spend behind the wheel of a lorry is nine hours. Tachographs are fitted to every large vehicle to record a driver's activities, but in 35-year-old Mr Kenyon's case two tachograph charts were being used. This practice was 'tolerated if not encouraged' by the McMurrays, who ran AJ Haulage, based in Daventry, Northants, the jury was told. Although cabs can be fitted with two tachographs, if there is a relief driver on board, the prosecution said Mr Kenyon was using them both when he died and was driving longer hours that legally permitted so he could increase his earnings. At the time he had debts of around £10,000. Friends and family noticed how tired he was and how he would often fall asleep in a chair. Tragic: Stephen Kenyon, pictured, was crushed to death when his 39 tonne Renault lorry crashed into a line of stationary traffic on southbound carriageway of the M1 Adrian John McMurray, of Daventry, and Adrian Paul McMurray, from Northampton, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and failing to discharge an employer's duty. After 16 hours and 52 minutes the jury unanimously convicted the father of both charges. They found the son guilty of manslaughter by a majority of 10 to 2 and unanimously on the second charge. It followed the accident on Friday February 12 2010 between junction 10, the Luton Airport exit and junction 9, the exit for Redbourn and Dunstable. Prosecutor Charles Miskin QC told the jury of seven men and five women the case was one of: 'gross negligence and manslaughter.' At the time of the fatal crash, the firm worked solely for the shop chain 99p Stores, delivering goods to branches up and down the country and collecting waste material such as cardboard packaging and bringing it back to the retail chain's central depot in Daventry. In the five years to February 2010 AJ Haulage, which had its yard at the depot, had rapidly grown from having two drivers to a fleet of 25 lorries and 40 trailers. But the jury was told that the firm's administration had not kept pace and rarely were there sufficient drivers to do all that was required. Drivers were frequently asked to do deliveries that would take them over permitted hours. Tired drivers pose a risk to themselves and others.This is a case about a man who lost his life because the rules were broken,' said Mr Miskin. He said the father and son showed a 'flagrant disregard for the law' in the pursuit of profit. Mr Misken went on: 'His death was the utterly foreseeable consequence of the way the defendants conducted their business. It was an accident waiting to happen. Their negligence had exposed him (Mr Kenyon) to the risk of death and that failure had been so reprehensible that it amounted to gross negligence. He said the defendants had failed to carry out any kind of 'risk assessment.' Moments before the crash a couple travelling south noticed Mr Kenyon's lorry drifting form the slow lane towards the middle lane two or three times. 'He was exhausted and had fallen asleep,' said the prosecutor. As they went past the lorry, Mr Kenyon who had left Daventry, and was on his way to Essex with a delivery, could be seen rubbing his eyes. Ahead traffic was slowing because of congestion and a lorry in front of Mr Kenyon's vehicle had come to a halt at the rear of a line of stationary traffic. The jury heard despite braking hard at the last moment, Mr Kenyon crashed into the back of the lorry in front. His cab was crushed and he received serious head and chest injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.26am that morning. The tachographs showed he had been at work since 5am the previous morning. He had been on duty for 19 hours and 15 minutes, and had been driving for 13 hours and 8 minutes, covering 592 miles. The court was told the father and son were not monitoring the tachograph charts of their drivers as they should have been. They should also have retained the drivers' charts for a year. Mr Misken said they were required to employ a 'qualified transport manager' which was never done and claims that the head office for AJ Haulage was in Northern Ireland were false. Records were not kept to show when vehicles had been maintained. Mr Miskin added: 'They failed to take steps to reduce the risk to drivers and to the public. They repeatedly exposed him to risk of death by asking him to work longer hours than he should have. This was a wilful disregard of the tachograph law. The breaches amount to criminal offences and they put profit before safety. It was an accident waiting to happen in the context of a business where every corner was cut. Not just the drivers but the public had been put at risk. Giving evidence McMurray senior told the jury he thought the Renault lorry was in the yard and was not being driven by Mr Keynon, who had worked for him since late 2009, when it crashed. He said that he and all the other drivers were paid in cash and were left to sort out their own tax and National Insurance. There were no difficulties with his work, but on January 27 2010, a lorry he was driving was written off after it jack-knifed on road works on the motorway. Someone stopped in front of him. He was coming to the end of the road works and someone nipped in in front of him,' he said. Asked if he took any action against Mr Kenyon, he replied: 'No, accidents happen,' he replied. He said he had not been responsible for the drivers' running list on the day of the accident and the days before. He said he saw Mr Kenyon at 9pm that night in the lorry in the yard. He said he knew Mr Kenyon sometimes slept in the cab. He was asleep when he got a phone call from his ex-wife in Northern Ireland, who had been contacted by the police to say that Mr McMurray himself had been killed in a road accident. 'I said "It's not me."' Officers then contacted him and told him there had been an accident on the motorway. He said when the police told him the lorry involved he said: 'That can't be right. I thought the vehicle was in the yard. Asked how he felt when he heard of the news of Mr Kenyon's death he said: 'You didn't want to see anyone die. I was very much upset. His son did not give evidence. Reporting of the case which finished earlier this month was subject to a contempt of court order because the father and son faced trial for cheating the Inland Revenue and VAT. But they changed their pleas yesterday. Adrian John McMurray and co-defendant Heather Parkinson, 69, of Parkhill, Dromore, County Down pleaded guilty to cheating the Inland Revenue of £311,976 between 6 April 2005 and 3 September 2009 and evading £424,248 VAT between 1 February 2005 and 31 July 2009. Adrian John McMurray and Adrian Paul McMurry admitted cheating the PAYE and National Insurance system of £896,050 between 6 April 2005 and 5 April 2010. Heather Parkinson admitted cheating the public revenue and National Insurace of £15,081.76p. Judge Andrew Bright QC adjourned sentence for reports to be prepared on the defendants. All three defendants are due to be sentenced on 28 June. They were all released on bail.