Crash driver swap man sentenced

The victim's father described Chakudunga as "vermin"

A driver who blamed his dying wife for a crash has been jailed for six years for causing death by careless driving.

Vimbai Chakudunga pulled wife Claire, 30, in the front seat after it smashed into trees at Ravenshead, Notts.

She was put into the front seat and never regained consciousness, dying from head injuries 10 days after the crash on 27 November 2003.

Chakudunga, 28, Goldsmith Street, Mansfield, denied two charges but was jailed at Nottingham Crown Court.

Significant sentence

It was also recommended that Chakudunga, a student nurse from Zimbabwe, be deported.

The court heard he had walked away from the crash on the A60 with minor injuries.

A jury took 25 minutes to find Chakudunga guilty of causing death by careless driving and failing to give a blood specimen.

The crash came just weeks after the couple had been married.

Chakudunga was branded "vermin" by the victim's father, retired policeman Anthony White, 54, who helped to catch "Black Panther" killer Donald Neilson in 1975.

Speaking after the case, Mr White said his daughter told him she had made a mistake and wanted to leave her husband just 30 minutes before she was killed.

'Beyond contempt'

He said: "Dragging someone with those injuries out of a car like that - he may as well have put a gun to her head.

"By putting our family through this he has shown he has no remorse, no real feelings or humanity. I would not treat my worst enemy like that.

"He took more from me than anyone's ever been able to touch. Hatred is not strong enough. He is beyond contempt."