Driver running late for work killed wife in tragic crash

A motorist killed his wife in a head-on crash after he claimed he was running late for work. Asen Kurtev was driving his wife Sofka Mitkova and three colleagues to work as he overtook several vehicles as he travelled to Spalding on 4 March last year. Kurtev, 46, carried out "an obviously highly dangerous" overtake on the A16 outside Boston[1] in Lincolnshire [2]and crashed into an oncoming Volkswagen Scirocco.

His colleagues were seriously injured in the crash while his wife Sofka, 39, suffered fatal chest injuries. The driver of the Volkswagen also sustained multiple serious injuries in the collision including fractures, and has since undergone surgery for his injuries. Kurtev was jailed at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday for 10 years and nine months, for causing death by dangerous driving, with concurrent sentences of 36 months for three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in relation to three backseat passengers in his Vauxhall Zafira.

In addition, he was handed a 27-month concurrent sentence for causing serious injury to the driver of the oncoming vehicle he crashed into. Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight KC told Kurtev that the loss of his wife is a "pain and punishment you will carry forever".

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Asen Kurtev was jailed for causing the death of his wife Sofka Mitkova as well as injuring four others in a head-on collision (Lincolnshire Police)

The court heard husband and wife passengers Kiril Ribarov and Gayla Ribarova, who were in the back of Kurtev's car alongside Dimitar Dimitrov, told the defendant to slow down as he overtook multiple vehicles while driving them to work at JZ Flowers at about 6.50am. Prosecution counsel Tony Stanford said it was Kurtev's job to pick up workers and drive to them to the factory for the 7am shift, but he was 25 minutes late collecting them, and Mr Ribarov told police it was clear he was "trying to catch up on his lateness".

He described Kurtev's behaviour, including overtaking a line of four or five cars on the A16, in a manoeuvre lasting around 15 seconds on the busy road, as "suicide, kamikaze driving". Judge Sjolin Knight said that, like many Lincolnshire[3] A-roads, the A16 was flat and straight with good visibility, and that the conditions were "not such that there was any point in overtaking as there was a line of traffic". Kurtev's car was "wholly in the other carriageway" when he crashed head on into a Volkswagen Scirocco being driven by Cameron Marshall, who was left with fractures to his lower spine and wrist, and damage to his spleen and upper bowel, and required surgery to his abdomen and his forearm, which needed to be realigned.

In a victim impact statement, Mr Marshall, who was 22 at the time and a professional HGV driver, said the crash was "never something I ever thought I would experience", and the effect his injuries have had on his family has been "truly heartbreaking". All three of Kurtev's passengers, none of whom were wearing a seat belt because they reportedly did not work, were seriously injured, and Mr Ribarov said he and his wife have had to return to Bulgaria. He said the crash, which left him with a fractured eye socket, cheekbone, kneecap and wrist, had caused "horrendous stress", adding: "We were in a foreign country with no income and no support.

"When this happened, we came to England[4] to work, but had to return to Bulgaria because we couldn't work. Everything in Bulgaria is so expensive, I can't support my family."

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Kurtev, 46, carried out "an obviously highly dangerous" overtake on the A16 outside Boston in Lincolnshire and crashed into an oncoming Volkswagen Scirocco. (Lincolnshire Police)

Representing Kurtev, who pleaded guilty to the offences on Monday, which was due to be the first day of his trial, John McNally said he never would have carried out the overtake if he had seen Mr Marshall's car coming towards him. He said: "He is truly sorry for what happened, he never meant for it to happen.

"He realises the failings were his and he regrets what has been caused to everybody and knows it is a daily reminder, from the destruction of his family life, of what he did. "It will weigh heavily on him. "In custody he will be largely alone as a man with limited skills and limited language."

Addressing Kurtev, of Carlton Road in Boston[5], who listened to proceedings via a Bulgarian interpreter, Judge Sjolin Knight said: "The small car coming towards you was driven by 22-year-old Cameron Marshall, a professional HGV driver. "The drivers of the three cars behind yours saw his car, you should have seen it too, particularly as you were the one pulling out to drive on his side of the road. "Whether you saw it and thought you could get back in before he reached you, or you didn't see it, I cannot determine.

"The traffic conditions were not such that there was any point in overtaking, there was a line of traffic. "The amount of traffic meant this was a manoeuvre you never should have attempted because there was no safe way back into the line of traffic. "Witnesses inside and outside the car described it as suicidal, kamikaze and crazy.

It is not a safe manoeuvre that went wrong." She added: "You were the one who had embarked on an obviously highly dangerous manoeuvre and the result was a head-on collision. "The results of that head-on collision have been catastrophic."

The judge said Kurtev may face being automatically deported after his sentence, of which he must serve two-thirds, and was banned from driving for five years upon his release.

References

1. ^ Boston (www.independent.co.uk)
2. ^ Lincolnshire (www.independent.co.uk)
3. ^ Lincolnshire (www.independent.co.uk)
4. ^ England (www.independent.co.uk)
5. ^ Boston (www.independent.co.uk)