Drink driver filmed his own fatal car crash before body lay in field for days

A drugs courier who crashed while driving at more than 100mph and then died from his injuries was not found until days later. The 27-year-old had been filming himself when he spun off the road, with the car rolling over and the man was flung out of a window, leaving him with fatal injuries[1], an inquest has been told. Borislav Zaraevski was pronounced deceased “at the side of the A38 between Deep Lane and Smithaleigh” on October 2 at 11.41am.

His medical cause of death was deemed as ‘multiple trauma’. Borislav had 104mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood – the drink-drive limit being 80mg. In addition, an amphetamine was also found to be present in his blood, as well as traces of cocaine[2].

As a result the pathologist considered the secondary cause of death to be “ethanol consumption and stimulant use”.

Christine Lampard’s Marks & Spencer cashmere jumper is ‘perfect’ for all seasons[3]

According to DevonLive[4], the inquest into the death of the Bulgarian[5] was heard at Plymouth Coroner’s court[6] where assistant coroner Sarah Le Fevre noted the findings of a forensic pathologist, a toxicologist, a forensic collision investigator and a series of key witnesses. The hearing – which was not attended by any of Borislav’s family either in person or online – noted the 27-year-old was born in Varna, Bulgaria, but was of no fixed abode in the UK, although police initially said he was from Plymouth. Witness Alysia King was working on Friday September 30, 2022 as a pizza delivery driver in her Vauxhall[7] Corsa.

She felt a massive bang from behind, swinging her car around, she pulled over, realising she had been hit by another car – which she described as a grey Honda. She told police the driver was “really apologetic” claiming his car had slipped on the wet road as it had been raining. However, he said there was no need to get the insurance[8] companies involved and insisted his brother could help fix her car.

He gave her his phone number and said he was called Antonia Jameson, claiming he too was a delivery driver. They arranged to meet up later in the night as Ms King still had deliveries to make. They met but the man said there was no way he would go through the insurance companies and that he had enough money to pay for repairs.

Ms King explained the car was not hers and she needed to do the right thing and swap insurance details, and it was then that “Antonia Jameson” admitted he “delivered cocaine”. She later discovered the car was not taxed[9] and after receiving no replies to her calls and texts to him, she called the police. Two other drivers who were heading towards Plymouth saw the car, and said that the way it was being driven had made then concerned.

One of them, Andrew Bradford, an HGV driver who was heading home to Plymouth[10], told police he saw three cars coming from the city heading west on the A38. The third car appeared to spin out of control and the headlights “disappeared”. As he drew past he could not see the red tail-lights.

He was so concerned – being trained in first aid – he doubled back and began to search. Mr Bradford found fresh damage to vegetation and eventually spotted the car about 20ft down a bank and on its roof. He searched the car but it was empty.

The inquest heard he tried to call police but found his phone battery was flat. After around 45 minutes of looking for the driver he assumed they had fled the scene and went home, only later alerting police[11]. Shortly after 10.20am on Sunday October 2 farmer Stephen Cochren, a farmer[12], was out in his tractor when he saw something he initially thought was a bag in the air but on closer inspection saw a car on its roof, with the back of it wedged up against his fence.

The car – a grey Honda Civic – looked heavily damaged. He could see no sign of the driver and called 999. Police arrived and began to carry out a search.

According to cops, the car was up against a tree and a search eventually revealed the body of a man several metres ahead of the car. The car was registered to Borislav and a driving licence was found in his name. In addition, he was identified by his tattoos[13], including ‘Mohuka’ tattooed on his chest.

In addition, officers found a Bulgarian ID card. With the information combined they were able to confirm the identity of the body as Borislav Zaraevski. The inquest heard that cops who searched the car found a mobile phone[14] belonging to Borislav which revealed shocking videos.

The final long video, taken by Borislav at 2.30am and 52 seconds showed the Civic travelling at 187kph – or 116mph – and analysis of the scene suggested this was filmed around 80m from the point where the vehicle left the carriageway.

Ms Le Fevre said Borislav had only pushed in his seatbelt far enough to silence the alarm and did not fully engage it.

She said the evidence suggested he travelled well in excess of the speed limit[15] in poor road conditions due to the persistent rain, while his “senses were impaired by substances”.

References

1. ^ fatal injuries (www.mirror.co.uk)
2. ^ cocaine (www.mirror.co.uk)
3. ^ Christine Lampard’s Marks & Spencer cashmere jumper is ‘perfect’ for all seasons (www.mirror.co.uk)
4. ^ DevonLive (www.devonlive.com)
5. ^ Bulgarian (www.mirror.co.uk)
6. ^ Coroner’s court (www.mirror.co.uk)
7. ^ Vauxhall (www.mirror.co.uk)
8. ^ insurance (www.mirror.co.uk)
9. ^ taxed (www.mirror.co.uk)
10. ^ Plymouth (www.mirror.co.uk)
11. ^ police (www.mirror.co.uk)
12. ^ farmer (www.mirror.co.uk)
13. ^ tattoos (www.mirror.co.uk)
14. ^ mobile phone (www.mirror.co.uk)
15. ^ speed limit (www.mirror.co.uk)