A lorry driver has appeared in court accused of doing a U-turn on the M6 toll motorway.
Leonid Papachin, 51, from Lithuania, is alleged to have performed the manoeuvre on Thursday after missing an exit slip-road near Lichfield.
Other vehicles are said to have been forced to slow down to avoid his articulated lorry.
He appeared at Cannock Magistrates’ Court charged with dangerous driving but did not enter a plea.
Mr Papachin was remanded in custody to appear at the same court on Tuesday.
remanded in custody seems a bit steep
i guess they think he will do a runner ,
couldnt they have just seized his passport /vehicle keys /documentation
and also i am wondering did he cross the central reservation to do a u turn
surely if he missed his turning it would have been easier and less dangerous to reverse back up the hard shoulder
So many foreign hgv driver commit offences in this country, are given bail, and are never seen again, so i for one welcome the remand procedure as now there is one driver who cannot escape justice.
Siezing his passport wil not stop him leaving the country never to return. The UK is one of the few countries in the EU where you are routinely required to show your passport on entry (unless you sneak into a trailer). Likewise keys etc. The offence here is totally down to the driver, so there are no grounds for siezing his employer’s vehicle.
Far, far too many foreign drivers (not just LGV) get off scot-free for all sorts of offences simply by buggering off back home. IMO far too little use is made of existing remand-in-custody powers to ensure these people are brought to justice.
Totally agree with truckyboy and Roymondo. He must have known that his U-turn was a legal no-no. Serves him right.
Roymondo:
Siezing his passport wil not stop him leaving the country never to return. The UK is one of the few countries in the EU where you are routinely required to show your passport on entry (unless you sneak into a trailer).
you don’t even need a passport to travel to this country from another European state only your id card will do.
I should know my Mrs’s passport ran out last year but she travels on her Bulgarian id card.
The crazy thing is that if she tried to renew it this year she would get fined because it had run out, but if she waits till next year she won’t, did make me laugh at the time.
Some strange rules out there 
■■■■■■■:
Totally agree with truckyboy and Roymondo. He must have known that his U-turn was a legal no-no. Serves him right.
+1 Still makes me mad they couldn’t catch the foreigner who caused the accident i was in earlyer this year, he knew he’d done wrong because he stopped, all of 5 seconds then drove off 
You don’t need a passport to leave the UK either. I have never needed to show it at the tunnel. The ferry is different though, every time there.