Jail for A13 wrong-way killer driver

Jail for A13 wrong-way killer driver

CAGED: Nyathi 'deeply remorseful'

• Zim man in £3,2m church swindle jailed

• Did Zimbabwean mastemind £3,2 million swindle?

• Zimbabwean stole £2,243 from care home

• Drug dealer faces deportation from UK

• Zim beauty queen stabbed, lover killed in Hull

• Man held over Zimbabwe nurse's murder

• Police made to wait on naked knifeman

• Naked knifeman charged over stepmum's murder

• Man wanted over UK murder of Zim nurse

• 4 Zimbabwean workers lose UK appeal

• UK judge wants airport alert Zim man deported

• UK jail for illegal Zimbabwean workers

• Jail for Zim man who battered ex-girlfriend

• Zim couple arrested over human trafficking

• Zim man accused of rape claims racism

• Crime Watch fugitive arrested

• 3 Zim asylum seekers held in dawn raid

• Casanova secretly married 5 women

• Zim pair jailed for mail bag thefts in UK

• Makwavarara's son infected 6 girls with HIV

• Arson accused should have been deported 2 years ago

• Grief of Zim family over Canada creek death

• Jail for Zim death crash nurse

• Nurse struck off over sex with patient

• 'Doctors did something...somebody died' - coroner

• Jail for Zimbabwean hostage man

• UK jail for HIV positive Zim rapist

• Zim man to serve 14 years for knife killing

• Zim internet fraudster cons man for £10 000

• 'Dead' Zim nurse escapes UK jail

• Zimbabwe woman wins US abuse suit

• UK jail for mum who allowed hubby to kill baby

• Pair face UK jail for child cruelty

• British MP wants fraudster deported

• Trooper who throttled vice lover jailed for life

By Staff Reporter

A ZIMBABWEAN man was branded “reckless” and “stupid” by a police officer as he was jailed for five years on Tuesday for driving on the wrong side of a British motorway whilst drunk, and killing another driver in a smash.

The Basildon Crown Court heard how Njabulo Nyathi, 46, downed pints of larger at a bar in the Basildon town centre on December 16, 2006, before getting behind the wheel of his four-wheel-drive Nissan X-trail.

Judge Rupert Overbury told Nyathi: "Sam Matkin was a healthy 22-year-old man who had much to live for. Your actions robbed him of his future.

"But for a £5 taxi fare, he would've had a future."

The court heard that after opting to drive instead of catching a taxi, Nyathi failed to spot no-entry signs on the exit slip from the London-bound A13, and other drivers desperately swerved out of his way.

Simon Spence, prosecuting, said Nyathi reached speeds of up to 55mph driving on the wrong way before his car crashed into Matkin’s vehicle a mile down the road, killing him almost instantly.

Nyathi was arrested and found to have 244mls of alcohol in his bloodstream. The legal limit is 80ml.

The court was told Nyathi was "deeply remorseful" over what he had done.

Judge Overbury also banned Nyathi from driving for five years.

Overbury said: "Despite the fact you must have felt drunk and must have experienced the associated affects on your senses, you chose to put yourself behind the wheel of a four-wheel-drive.

"That put you in charge of a lethal weapon which had the potential to wreak havoc with other road users. Unfortunately on that evening, that is what happened."

The police officer who headed the team which brought Nyathi to justice branded him a "reckless, stupid man" who shattered a loving family.

Insp Alan Jelley, head of the Laindon road policing unit at the time, welcomed Nyathi's jailing.

Insp Jelley said: "Nyathi was a reckless, stupid man who has not only torn a family apart but also caused his own to dislike him.

"I am confident he knew he was going to drive after consuming a large quantity of alcohol in a town centre bar, but I'm not sure what was going through his mind when he decided to drive down the wrong side of the A13.

"He sent panic through several motorists before crashing into Sam's car, causing him to suffer fatal injuries.

"He now has many years to contemplate his actions - the actions which caused Sam's family heartache a day after his mother's birthday and just a week before Christmas.”
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
newsdesk@newzimbabwe.com