‘A plague on society’ Texting death driver jailed

Marina Usaceva, 31, was using two phones in her Jaguar shortly before she ploughed into a car, killing the driver.

Yesterday, she sobbed in the dock as she was sent to prison for six years and banned from driving for eight.

The Latvian-born mother-of-one was told by Judge Sean Enright: “If you were not sending texts at the time, then you were fiddling with your phone and that is what caused this collision.

“In my opinion there is not a scrap of remorse. Mobile phone use while driving is a plague on our society.”

Usaceva had a Sony and a Samsung in her car as she drove in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in March last year.

The Sony was used to send a text 15 minutes before the crash and received a message two minutes later, Peter­borough Crown Court heard.

The Samsung was used to make a call and receive three more in the 20 minutes leading up to the crash, the judge was told. The last use of either phone was six minutes before the tragedy, the court heard.

At the time of the crash, Usaceva was driving at 70mph in a 60mph zone, said Georgina Gibbs, prosecuting.

But witnesses said the Jaguar was travelling significantly faster because it braked sharply for a speed camera,

Sukhdeep Singh Johal, 27, was fatally injured as Usaceva smashed into the back of his Peugeot 206.

Mr Johal, of Leicester, a recent graduate in biomedical science at De Montfort University in the city, died at the scene. Usaceva, of Peterborough, admitted causing death by dangerous driving. She had previously been caught twice using her phone behind the wheel and her licence was endorsed in 2009 and 2012, the court heard.

Ian Brownhill, defending, said she was the sole carer of her eight-year-old son, whose father lives in Latvia.

Inspector Bob Turner said af case that he believed Usaceva behaved “incredibly foolishly”.

He added: “I have never seen anything like it before – it was crass stupidity.”

Outside court, Mr Johal’s father Buhupinder said no sentence would be enough to console the family. He added: “Even 60 years wouldn’t be enough but this is some kind of justice.

“The only thing we can hope is that others will learn from this.

“People think nothing of it but using a mobile phone while driving can kill.”

He revealed his son was rescued from a house fire when he was one year old after an uncle wrapped him in a turban and threw him from a window.

“We tell ourselves that this was a miracle and we had 26 years with him that we might not have had,” said Mr Johal.

Police have been told to seize drivers’ mobiles after accidents – although checks can still be made on call records without officers having the phone.