Nottinghamshire driver jailed for killing RAC worker fixing van

Gary Kupinskyj might have been distracted by an upcoming race he had gambled on, the judge said

A driver who killed a recovery worker while he was repairing a broken-down vehicle has been jailed for 12 months.

Gary Kupinskyj was found guilty of causing the death by careless driving of David Stokes, of Chellaston, Derby.

The 33-year-old RAC worker died at the scene of the crash on the A617 in Nottinghamshire on 15 June 2018.

Kupinskyj, 46, might have been distracted by an upcoming race he had gambled on as part of a betting syndicate, the sentencing judge said.

"Some, part, or all of your attention was fixed on that and not on your driving," Judge Stuart Rafferty QC told him.

"You perhaps zoned out of the drive to some extent."

Nottingham Crown Court had heard how father-of-three Mr Stokes was fixing a van in a lane on the dual carriageway near Rainworth when he was hit by Kupinskyj, of Greaves Lane in Edingley, near Newark.

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David Stokes was described as a "true family man"

Following sentencing, Mr Stokes's family said he had "died doing a job he loved".

His uncle Neil Stokes said the sentence "should have been a lot harsher", while Natira Clarke said Kupinskyj had not shown regret for causing the death of her partner.

"The only time he's ever shown remorse was when they found him guilty, and that was for himself," she said.

Kupinskyj, who was cleared of the more serious charge of causing death by dangerous driving, was disqualified from driving for two years.

A spokesman for the RAC said: "The loss of our colleague David in the line of duty was utterly tragic for his family as well as being a terrible blow to all his colleagues.

"Our thoughts continue to be with David's family."

The company opened a memorial area for Mr Stokes in their head office's garden, in Walsall, last June.