Woman killed in crash after father and son race stolen car through field
A DRUNK car thief killed a woman after hitting her car in a stolen 4x4 while trying to escape police in a field. Marcin Jablonski, 44, was up to four times the drink-drive limit when driving the £80,000 Land Rover Defender.
The car’s steering was badly damaged by the field of 6ft-high maize and, when he rejoined the road, he lost control and smashed into an oncoming Nissan Juke.
Driver Aisatou Mballow Baldeh, 28, suffered severe injuries as her SUV was flipped on to its roof. She was declared dead at the scene.
Jablonski and his son Thomaz Urbaniak, 26, who was in the passenger seat, escaped serious injury. Jablonski was jailed for 11 years yesterday after admitting causing death by dangerous driving, having no insurance, causing death while a disqualified driver, aggravated vehicle taking and criminal damage.
Urbaniak received a two-year jail term after he pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, burglary and being in a vehicle driven by someone causing death by dangerous driving.
Judge Anthony Bate told Jablonski – a repeat offender who arrived in Britain after being jailed for 18 months in Poland for stealing a power line – he had been ‘reckless’ during a ‘prolonged and consistent act of dangerous driving’.
He added: ‘You repeatedly evaded the best efforts of police to halt the vehicle and pressed on with its steering compromised, with tragic consequences.’
Mrs Baldeh’s husband, Bocar, described her as a ‘ beautiful and loving person inside and outside’.
Dramatic video footage showed Jablonski trying to shake off a police helicopter and two cars by driving through the field before rejoining the A143 near Earsham, Norfolk.
Jablonski, of Carlton Colville, near Lowestoft, lost control and hit the car driven by Mrs Baldeh.
Prosecutor Chris Youell said tests showed he had between 273mg and 461mg of alcohol in 100ml of urine, compared to a legal limit of 107mg.
Jablonski has seven convictions for 15 offences in the UK including three for drink-driving.
He was given a one- year consecutive jail term for breaching a 14-month suspended sentence and was also banned from driving for 13 years.
The incident was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which is continuing its investigation.
‘This had tragic consequences’