A DANGEROUS drink driver from Evesham whose reckless actions behind the wheel claimed the life of his passenger has been jailed for ten-and-a-half years.
Mariusz Kosinski, 37, of St Matthews Close, was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving at Worcester Crown Court.
Kosinski was also banned from driving for 13 years.
On July 27, 2024, Kosinski, who was over the drink-drive limit, crashed his black BMW 330d on the A46 Evesham bypass at around 5.30pm. His front seat passenger -, 40-year-old Pawel Czubacki from Evesham – suffered fatal injuries.
‘Aggressive and erratic’
Witnesses described Kosinski driving his BMW in an aggressive and erratic manner leading up to the collision. He performed multiple dangerous overtakes, including moving on to the opposite side of the carriageway to get past other vehicles.
They heard the loud screeching of tyres and saw wheels spinning on the Twyford Island, before he exited onto the A46 Evesham Bypass heading southbound.
Kosinski overtook many more vehicles, putting everyone in his path at risk. He then continued down the centre of the road approaching Badsey Island, as he attempted to overtake another car.
This time, with the central gap narrowing and an oncoming vehicle on the opposite side, he lost control while trying to go around it.
His BMW spun, sliding sideways towards the island, then flipped over and landed on its roof in a grass verge and hedgerow.
Despite the best efforts of emergency services who attended, Mr Czubacki was declared dead. Kosinski was arrested at the scene, where officers described smelling alcohol on his breath.
Kosinski failed a roadside breath test at the scene, recording a measurement of 80 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath – more than twice the legal limit of 35 micrograms. He was also found to be over the limit of 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of alcohol in blood – registering 84 milligrams – when his blood was taken some time later.
Later, a mirror dashcam unit was found at the scene and given to police. It contained further damning evidence of the collision from the point of view of Kosinski’s vehicle.
Sentencing
His Honour Judge Cartwright was highly critical of his driving for both the speed and the way he dangerously overtook 14 vehicles and two motorbikes ahead of the fatal collision, and despite fast oncoming traffic.
HHJ Cartwright added Kosinski deliberately ignore the rules of the road, and showed a disregard for the safety of other road users while ‘showing off’ the high-speed performance of his own car.
Det Con Danny Somner, from West Mercia’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit South, welcomed the term, adding his actions – exacerbated by alcohol – led to the death of his passenger and put countless other road users at risk.
“No sentencing will every compensate for the sad loss of life here, but we hope it will provide the chance for Pawel’s family and friends to begin to move on with their lives now.
“It would be easy to think that what happened was just a one-off lapse of judgment or moment of madness, however, the footage recovered from Kosinski’s dashcam showed his usual driving was risky and dangerous, so it is right he is behind bars and has been handed a lengthy ban from the roads.”
