A delivery driver has been sentenced to six years in prison for causing the death of a seven-year-old girl in a horrific head-on collision in Lincolnshire.
A Catastrophic and Dangerous Overtake
Veselin Dudenski, 39, was delivering parcels on November 28 when he attempted to overtake another vehicle on a single carriageway road. The court heard he failed to notice a hidden dip in the road and a warning sign placed 425 metres before the collision site. As he moved into the opposite lane, his white Citroen Relay van crashed directly into a blue Kia Rio travelling in the other direction.
Prosecutor Claire Holmes told Lincoln Crown Court that Dudenski's manoeuvre was "dangerous". She stated that a "careful and competent driver should have been fully aware of the hidden dip," which was indicated by both a road sign and markings. Had he waited, he would have seen the Kia approaching.
The Tragic Consequences for a Family
The rear passenger of the Kia, seven-year-old Elsie Gascoigne, sustained serious injuries in the crash. She was taken to hospital but died the following day. Her father, who was driving, suffered multiple fractures, including a major injury to his breast bone, lower back, and arm, which will have significant long-term implications.
In a heart-wrenching victim impact statement read to the court, Elsie's parents described their daughter as "bright, loving, funny and full of life". They said: "Losing Elsie is not just the loss of a child, it’s the loss of our entire future. We have lost her laughter, her dreams and everything she would have become." The court was told Elsie had been the centre of her father's world, a bond now "shattered". The pair had been on a trip shopping and to McDonald's shortly before the collision.
Sentencing and Deportation
Dudenski, of Cherry Avenue, Branston, Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight sentenced him to six years imprisonment and banned him from driving for eight years at the hearing on Friday, November 28. She told him he "simply did not take the time and care you needed" when crossing into the oncoming lane.
Defence barrister Charles Myatt said Dudenski, a professional driver for 17 years, made a "catastrophic error of judgement" and genuinely believed the road was clear. He was not speeding, intoxicated, or distracted at the time. Dudenski, who sat in the dock wearing a blue and white striped shirt and jeans with his head down, is now liable for automatic deportation as a foreign national.
Detective Sergeant Kate Johnston of Lincolnshire Police said the investigation had been "distressing" and that no outcome could reflect the pain felt by Elsie's family. She stated: "Dudenski’s decision to carry out an overtaking manoeuvre on a dark undulating road has ended with the worst of all outcomes."
