Speeding driver jailed after 'horrific' crossing crash

Albert Jarosz was handed a prison sentence of four years and six months

A car worker who hit and killed a pedestrian on a crossing after undertaking in a turbo-charged Audi A6 has been jailed.

Albert Jarosz, 28, of Brereton Road, Bedford, was handed a prison sentence of four years and six months by a judge at Luton Crown Court on Tuesday.

Trial jurors had found Jarosz guilty of causing death by dangerous driving after hearing how Rodrigo-Vasile Cosma, 25, was hit at a junction in Bedford town centre on 26 March 2024.

Judge Allison Hunter told Jarosz: "What you did was dangerous - an obviously dangerous manoeuvre."

Jurors returned had returned a guilty verdict in August after a trial at Luton Crown Court.

Speeding driver Albert Jarosz has been jailed by a judge in Luton

The incident happened at about 18:30 GMT at the junction of Midland Road, River Street and Greyfriars.

Jarosz had admitted causing death by careless driving but denied causing death by dangerous driving.

A police crash investigator estimated that Jarosz was travelling at 45mph (72km/h) in a 30mph (48km/h) zone.

Prosecutor Sam Barker told the trial that Mr Cosma, a factory supervisor from Romania, was crossing the road just after the traffic lights turned green.

He said Jarosz moved into a left-hand lane, before cutting back into a right-hand lane to get ahead, in a "selfish" move.

'Highly distressed'

Jarosz, who came to the UK from Poland in 2019, told jurors how he had been driving home from a garage in nearby Milton Ernest, where he worked.

He said he had been driving in the UK for four years before the collision, but had not read the Highway Code, and was unfamiliar with the road layout in central Bedford.

Jarosz stopped and called 999 after the accident, jurors were told.

One witness said he saw Jarosz with his head in his hands, saying: ''I am sorry''.

Judge Hunter also banned Jarosz from driving for seven years and three months.

He told Jarosz that that he was "otherwise" a "productive, law-abiding citizen", but that ""none of that can bring back the life you took away".

She said Mr Cosma had stepped into the road in a way many others would have done and had been sent "hurtling" into the air, landing about 35 metres (more than 100 feet) from the "point of impact".

He had suffered an "horrific" head injury and died about a month later.

Mr Barker said Mr Cosma had a large family who were left "highly distressed" and had been visited in hospital by about 370 people.

Mr Cosma died in a collision on the junction of Greyfriars, Midland Road and River Street in Bedford in March 2024

Barrister Daniel Higgins, who represented Jarosz, said his client had "taken proceedings extremely seriously".

Jarosz, he said, had "struggled to live with the consequences of his actions" and was "utterly distraught".

He said the crossing light had been "set red" for pedestrians and and Mr Cosma did not "appear to look".

Det Con Rochelle Eves, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire serious collision investigation unit, said the crash had been "entirely preventable".

"This was an appalling display of driving by Jarosz. The road was wet, he chose to use the incorrect lane to gain an advantage, whilst speeding, with two defective tyres," she said.

"The selfish actions of Jarosz, who failed to accept responsibility for the appalling display of driving, put Mr Cosma's family through a four-day trial. Mr Cosma was simply crossing the road making his way home after a day at work.

"Dangerous driving can have tragic consequences and will not be tolerated. My thoughts remain with Mr Cosma's family."