David Fudge death: Widow 'more hurt by police than husband's killer'

David Fudge, pictured alongside his wife Claire Montgomery, was due to go on holiday the day after he was killed

The widow of a motorcyclist said she was more hurt by police failures than by the driver that killed her husband.

On Monday, William Curtis, 88, was convicted of causing the death of David Fudge, 66, by careless driving while doing a U-turn in Bedfordshire in 2018.

Curtis was only charged after his victim's wife paid for a private report.

The Chief Constable of Bedfordshire Police has apologised to the family for "failings" in the investigation.

His widow Claire Montgomery said police were "supposed to uphold the law and I think in this case they didn't".

A jury found Curtis, of Oak Close, Irchester, Northamptonshire, guilty of causing death by careless driving after a trial at Cambridge Crown Court, which heard errors were made in an original police report in 2019.

Curtis will be sentenced on 30 September.

William Curtis, 88, was convicted by a jury of causing David Fudge's death by careless driving

On 18 November 2018 he was driving his wife and took the "wrong exit at a roundabout" on the A4146 near Billington, Bedfordshire.

He pulled onto a patch of "hard standing" by the single-lane southbound side of the road, and attempted to perform a U-turn on to the two-lane northbound side.

Jurors heard how Mr Fudge, who was travelling southbound and performing a lawful overtake, collided with Curtis and died at the scene.

Curtis was deemed not fit to be interviewed until June 2019 - seven months after the crash.

After he was finally interviewed at his home, police decided no further action would be taken.

His widow then paid for her own private report to be done and said within 10 minutes the investigator David Loat "said now this police forensic investigation report... it's a complete and utter disgrace, at which point I thought 'thank you'".

Mr Fudge (left) spent much of his four years of retirement travelling with his wife

Curtis was eventually charged, and Ms Montgomery said she was told by a senior officer "we put our hand up, every criticism that you have made was the correct criticism right from the day one that Mr Curtis wasn't interviewed at the scene".

• 'I probed my husband's death after police failure'

Asked by BBC Look East in her first TV interview who hurt her more in this process, Curtis or Bedfordshire Police, Ms Montgomery responded "well it's the police".

She went on: "Bedfordshire Police are supposed to uphold the law and I think in this case they didn't. They did it once they accepted Mr Loat's report."

She said the jury's guilty verdict was a "relief because the defence were trying to still blame my husband".

Ms Montgomery, who has since been reimbursed for the private report, said: "David was a very quiet unassuming person and he didn't get cross, but I think he might have been cross about this.

"And I still feel he's looking from wherever he is saying 'thank goodness my motorcycling skills are as good as I thought they were and this was not my fault', because he was obsessive about safety."

Claire Montgomery has been reimbursed for the private report she paid for

Chief Constable Mr Forsyth said: "The failings in the investigation into the collision undoubtedly compounded the pain, suffering and grief that Mr Fudge's wife and family have had to endure since his death, and I am genuinely sorry for that.

"If it had not been for their relentless campaigning there is real potential this would have slipped by and justice would have been missed. I'm so pleased that didn't happen and Mr Fudge's loved ones have had the opportunity for the case to be heard at court.

"We have already reimbursed the costs of their private investigation, which played a key role in the matter being re-opened, and the learnings from this case informed a review and restructure of the teams responsible for the investigation of fatal collisions to make improvements and ultimately prevent it from happening again."