Driver jailed for causing death by dangerous driving

The brother of a 36-year-old accountant who was killed by an elderly man who was driving at 80mph on the wrong side of the road, has spoken about his family’s loss.

Mark Smith, from Studley, was killed in the head-on collision on the A4189 near Claverdon on October 19 last year.

At Warwick Crown Court 78-year-old Hans Wegerdt was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and banned from driving for five years from his release.

Wegerdt, of St Michael’s Road in Claverdon, had pleaded guilty to causing Mr Smith’s death by dangerous driving.

During proceedings the court was told Wegerdt had sped back home after realising he had forgotten his wallet when he hit Mr Smith’s Volvo.

Despite the efforts of the emergency services Mr Smith died at the scene from multiple injuries, the most significant of which was a burst aorta.

Accident investigators established that Wegerdt had been driving in the direction of Claverdon on the wrong side of the road – and the speedometer on his Mercedes had frozen at around 80mph at the moment of impact.

The court heard that the German national had just returned home from Germany, where he had been driving on the right, the day before the crash.

Giving his reaction to the verdict Mark’s brother Andrew, 35, from Redidtch said: “The sentence is clearly not long enough given what he has done, given the tragic loss of Mark’s life at such a young age.

“When people originally heard that a 36-year-old had died in a crash with an elderly man, many would jump to the conclusion that it was a young man who had recklessly crashed into a pensioner, in reality what happened was the other way around. Mark was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, he will always be 36.

“We always knew that Mark would not have been at fault for what happened, he was a cautious chap, he was an accountant who drove a Volvo, he was certainly not a reckless driver.

“My family believe the sentence is not enough, I’m sure it is within the guidelines, but nothing will bring our Mark back.

“This man was in a rush to get his wallet and he ended my brother’s life through his own reckless stupidity.”