Careless driver is given community service and ban for crash in which girlfriend killed
A MOTORIST whose careless driving caused the death of his girlfriend in a car crash must carry out 160 hours of community service.
Kamil Rozynek (24) had only passed his test weeks before the two-car collision in May 2015 that claimed the life of 21-yearold Kinga Pelc.
Belfast Magistrates Court heard that the exact reasons for the fatal accident on the Annadale Embankment may never be fully established.
But Deputy District Judge Joe Rice told Rozynek the victim’s family had suffered “immense and immeasurable” loss.
He said: “It’s a tragic case, everybody accepts that.
“It came from careless or inconsiderate driving, probably arising from a momentary lapse of attention.”
Rozynek, of Beechmount Avenue in the city, was behind the wheel of a Renault Megane that crashed into a four-wheel drive vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.
Ms Pelc, a Polish national who had been living in Belfast at the time, was a front seat passenger in his car.
She was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital, but died later from her injuries. Rozynek was knocked unconscious in the collision, as well as suffering a broken leg and trauma.
A woman and her adult daughter who were in the other vehicle also received hospital treatment.
Engineering experts who examined the scene were unable to provide an explanation for Rozynek’s sudden loss of control.
Prosecution counsel Natalie Pinkerton said Rozynek told police he couldn’t recall what had happened in the lead-up to the crash.
But earlier this year he pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving. It emerged in court that he had passed his test two weeks before the accident. As the victim’s mother listened at the back of the court, a defence barrister offered Rozynek’s “genuine, sincere and heartfelt apologies” to her family.
Chris Sherrard said: “He’s very conscious of the fact there’s nothing he can do or say to bring
back the deceased. It’s a tragic, tragic incident.”
Submitting that his client poses no risk of harm to the public, Mr Sherrard contended that the case was in the bottom category of the relevant offending.
Now a married father-of-two, Rozynek works as a production operative in Belfast. Judge Rice agreed that his level of culpability was on the “low side”, but also acknowledged the suffering and consequences for Ms Pelc’s family. Imposing 160 hours of community service, he also disqualified Rozynek from driving for 18 months.