Asylum seeker working illegally as DPD driver jailed over fatal crash

2023-01-29

Asylum seeker who crashed into a grandfather while working illegally as a DPD driver under a false name is jailed for causing his death – as family demand to know how he was employed despite not holding a licence or being insured

Asylum seeker Moldovan Vladimir Stratan, 26, worked for DPD under false name
Stratan hit Mark Colwill, 58, August last year and was jailed for 10 months

A grieving family are demanding answers after a beloved grandfather died in a motorcycle crash with an asylum seeker who was working illegally as a DPD driver under a false name.

The wife and two daughters of Mark Colwill, 58, have been left devastated and struggling to manage without him since his death last August – and are now demanding answers from DPD.

He was hit by a DPD delivery van driven by Moldovan Vladimir Stratan who had entered Britain under a false name in 2021 but was allowed to stay after lodging an asylum claim.

Stratan, 26 of West Clyst, near Exeter, was working for DPD through a subcontractor using a driving licence in the false name of Viaral Nirescu, who was a ‘Romanian’ with a fake address in Bristol. The licence carried his photo.

Asylum seeker and DPD driver Moldovan Vladimir Stratan (pictured), 26, of West Clyst, near Exeter, was jailed for ten months after admitted perverting the course of justice causing death by careless driving and driving while uninsured and with a false licence

The wife and two daughters of Mark Colwill (pictured) have been left devastated and struggling to manage without him

Stratan was detained in October 2021 after he entered Scotland from Ireland using the false identity of a Romanian called Sergei Bagrin. He was detained for five months before being freed in March with an admonition by Stranraer Sherriff Court.

He then moved to Devon where he obtained the false driving licence and got a job as a delivery driver.

Stratan had already racked up four unpaid speeding tickets in two months of driving for DPD at their depot near St Austell in Cornwall. The crash with Mr Colwill occurred when he failed to stop at a Give Way sign on a country road at Ashwater, North Devon.

Mr Colwill was riding his motorcycle perfectly safely but had no chance to avoid the Transit as it sped across the main road he was using. He was fatally injured and thrown into a ditch, where his family, who lived very close, found him in terrible pain.

He had become a grandfather for the first time a year earlier and his family have been left heartbroken by his death. His wife Karen and daughters Emma and Natalie all wrote personal statements which were read to Exeter Crown Court.

Emma sobbed as she told how the family’s suffering had been aggravated by Stratan’s lies, especially after they saw him on his knees at the scene, apparently praying.

She also questioned what checks had been made before he obtained his job as a driver.

She said: ‘At first I felt sorry for him and thought it was unfair he was going to have to live with this for the rest of his life, but when I heard he had given false details I was devastated.

‘I felt he did not care about my Dad and was just praying that he would not get found out. He was worried about being sent back to the country he came from. He didn’t seem to care about anyone else, or he would not have given false details.

Emma asked: ‘Where were the checks? How was he employed as a driver despite not holding a licence or being insured?

‘On that night, our lives changed forever. We got a life sentence.’

Emma said her one-year-old son Beau had been deprived of his grandfather and her dreams of him driving her to her wedding on his unique motor-trike had been shattered.

Mark’s widow Karen said he had been her rock and had worked up to 70 hours a week to provide for his family and she did not know how they could survive without his income.

Stratan admitted perverting the course of justice, causing death by careless driving and driving while uninsured and with a false licence.

He was jailed for a year and ten months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court and banned from driving for five years after his release. The judge said the public would expect him to be deported on or before his release.

He told him: ‘You were not allowed to work in this country, given your immigration status, and you had no licence to drive. Despite that, you took a job as a driver.

‘You approached the junction at speed and don’t seemed to have stopped or slowed down before driving straight across it. Tragically. Mr Colwill’s motorcycle was approaching. He was riding perfectly competently and you gave him to take evasive action.

‘He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. I have heard their victim personal statements. They are heart-breaking in detailing the effect your poor driving and deceit have caused.’

The judge noted that DPD’s ability to check on Stratan’s credentials had been diluted because he was working through two sub-contractors.

Miss Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said Mr Colwill was on his way to a bike meet and was on the main road from Ashwater to Holsworthy road at 8.30 pm on August 10 last year when Stratan’s van came from a side road into his path.

Stratan drove through a give way sign without stopping and admitted he only looked right and did not see the bike. He gave false details to police spelling out the name on his licence.

He was allowed to leave the scene but the address on the licence turned out not to exist and he was traced to his home, where he continued to claim to be Mr Mirescu and gave another address in Dumfries, Scotland.

The truth only emerged after his fingerprints were checked. Police discovered four speeding tickets next to his bed which he had picked up while driving the Transit van in Cornwall in June and July, all under the false name.

Miss Bolt said Stratan received an admonishment, the equivalent of a conditional discharge, from Stranraer Sheriff Court on March 13, 2022, for entering Britain in October 2021 with false identification papers in the name of a Romanian called Sergei Bagrin.

Miss Anishi Kiri, defending, read out a letter of apology from Stratan to the Colwill family. She said he is truly remorseful and had given the false details because he knew he was not allowed to work.

She said he had been blinded by the sun at the time of the accident and had been working to support his wife and four-year-old son while waiting for his asylum claim to be processed.

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