Accident scene on the A12

A DRIVER who was speeding when he caused the death of a Portuguese woman in an horrific accident on the A12 has been jailed for 27 months.

Accident scene on the A12

A witness who saw 51-year-old Joao Alves’ BMW shortly before the accident described it as travelling at 100mph while another said it had overtaken him like a “Formula One racing car”, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

On September 26, 2010, Alves and his passengers, 34-year-old Mafalda Sofia Do Nascimento Pio and her partner Jose Ribeiro had got up early to visit a car boot sale at Ardleigh, near Colchester.

The trio had been on their way back to Ipswich at about 8.40am when Alves lost control on a left-hand bend at Dedham, said Stephen Rose, prosecuting.

The BMW overturned before ploughing into the pillars of a bridge and the car suffered substantial damage to its near side.

Miss Pio, of Bramford Lane, Ipswich, was a rear-seat passenger and died instantly in the collision while Alves was airlifted to the Royal London Hospital with serious facial injuries, said Mr Rose.

Mr Ribeiro was also treated in hospital for severe cuts and bruising and a broken left hand. Mr Rose said on the day in question the road surface was wet and the weather overcast.

Alves admitted causing Miss Pio’s death by careless driving on the basis he had been driving “too fast in prevailing conditions”.

The court heard that Alves accepted driving in excess of the 70mph speed limit but did not accept he was driving at 100mph.

Alves, of Bramford Lane, also admitted causing death while driving without insurance and without a licence, possessing false identification documents and making a false declaration to get insurance by stating he had a full EU licence.

Sentencing Alves, Judge John Devaux said: “Put simply, you drove carelessly and killed someone when you weren’t entitled to drive on a public road and the accident, you concede, was entirely due to the manner of your driving and no other vehicle was involved.”

He said the matter was aggravated by Alves’ speed, the fact he was committing other offences at the same time and previous driving offences between 1999 and 2002 which included a speeding offence and offences of driving without insurance and without a licence.

He said while Mr Ribeiro had forgiven Alves, Miss Pio’s mother had expressed “incomprehension” for what had happened to her daughter.

In addition to jailing Alves, Judge Devaux banned him from driving for two years.

Mr Rose told the court that three months before the accident, Alves had obtained car insurance by pretending he had a full EU driving licence when in fact the licence he had was a fake.

Marc Brown, for Alves said his client offered his heartfelt apologies for what had happened and accepted he would be sent to prison.

He said Miss Pio had been a friend of Alves and he would shoulder the burden of causing her death for the rest of his life.