A Van Driver from Grimsby has been jailed at Lincoln Crown Court after a fatal crash.
A speeding and impatient van driver who caused a fatal crash, killing a woman and seriously injuring three others, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison on Monday, December 9. Uldis Stepins, a 47-year-old self-employed joiner, lost control of his van after attempting to overtake a lorry tanker in heavy rain on the B1225 at Market Stainton.
Lincoln Crown Court was told that after passing the tanker, Stepins hit standing water and veered into the opposite lane, colliding with a Hyundai i10 car headed to a music festival in Horncastle. Jasmine Gower, 29, a rear seat passenger in the Hyundai, died at the scene just after 5:30 p.m. on August 4, 2023. Her brother, Cameron Cotterill, along with the driver of the Hyundai and another passenger, were hospitalized with multiple fractures.
Dashcam footage presented in court showed Stepins overtaking the tanker in “bad conditions.” Prosecutor Andrew Peat stated, “There was a large amount of standing water everywhere. The manoeuvre was obviously dangerous. The footage proves the defendant’s van was traveling in excess of the 60 mph limit,” noting that the speed limit for Stepins’ van was 50 mph.
Stepins, from Crowland Avenue, Grimsby, admitted to causing the death of Jasmine Gower by dangerous driving, as well as three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Following his arrest, Stepins provided a prepared statement claiming he overtook the tanker to avoid the spray, but standing water impeded his progress.
David Eager, in mitigation for Stepins, acknowledged, “The defendant knows he has destroyed a family, because he has a family himself.”
Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight, in her sentencing, remarked, “It can only be impatience which could have made you take the bad decision to overtake the lorry.” She added, “In those conditions that was not just speeding, but a dangerous speed for the conditions.”
Stepins was handed a 13-year driving ban and must take an extended re-test.
