Linton A1307 death: Driver caused colleague's death

A driver killed a colleague when he pulled out onto a dual carriageway having "simply failed to stop and see" an oncoming vehicle, a court was told.

Mitica Baiculescu, 50, died after Radu Ion pulled out into the path of an Audi A3 on the A1307 in Linton, Cambridgeshire, on 13 July 2018.

A judge said the Audi driver "had no chance at all to avoid the collision".

Ion, 42, of Bulstrode Road, Ipswich was jailed for 21 months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.

He also admitted causing the serious injury of another of his passengers Lamaita Alexandru, who suffered a fractured pelvis in the crash.

Cambridge Crown Court heard Mr Baiculescu was one of four passengers in Ion's Volkswagen Passat following the end of a shift at 21:00 BST at Dalehead Foods factory.

Prosecutor Marti Blair said it had been Mr Baiculescu's final shift before his family planned to return to Romania.

The court was shown CCTV of the crash as Ion pulled out of the factory exit and into the path of Christopher Burge's Audi.

Mr Burge later told police he "couldn't understand what the driver of the Passat was thinking", said Ms Blair.

Mr Baiculescu, a rear-seat passenger in Ion's car, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time after the crash.

Duncan O'Donnell, mitigating, called Ion a "dedicated, working family man who has engaged in one dangerous manoeuvre that has had tragic consequences".

Judge David Farrell QC told Ion: "What you did that evening was you simply failed to stop and see approaching from your right another vehicle and you drove directly on to the dual carriageway without stopping.

"Your dangerous driving caused the death of a much-loved husband, father and grandfather."

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