Boxing coach jailed for crash which killed carer
Father was speeding and had taken drugs before car spun
A boxing coach has been jailed for five years after he was convicted of causing the death of a popular care worker in a crash. John Verlander lost control of his car with three children on board as he overtook two other vehicles on a bend on the A229 at Linton in December 2017.
The 38-year-old was speeding and had cannabis in his system. Madalin-Constantin Lungoci, who lived in Hastings and worked at Betsy Clara House nursing home in Tovil, died at the scene.
The 22-year-old’s parents told Maidstone Crown Court in a moving statement: “Our home is now a shrine, all our thoughts and actions resumed to prayers, lighting candles and alms.” Madalin was preparing to get married and was “the apple of our eyes, our ideals, our comfort,” they said.
His mother Tanta added: “We can’t accept the fact our child was taken from us by a man who was under the influence of hallucinogenic substances.” Colleague Gina Townson added: “His smile could light up a whole room, we will never meet a more genuine person again. “Mad was an amazing young man with a bright future ahead of him, a massive heart that couldn’t see wrong in anyone.” Verlander, a South East Water employee, told a jury he was returning from Sittingbourne where he was coaching young boxers when the crash happened. The father-of-three, who had admitted a lesser charge of careless driving, said he felt the back end of his Citroen slipping before the car went sidewards and struck Madalin’s oncoming vehicle at Stilebridge Lane. Verlander was found to have 2.4 milligrams of cannabis in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is two milligrams.
Experts said he was travelling at between 63mph and 71mph in the 60mph zone.
Verlander, from East Sussex, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and banned from getting behind the wheel for seven-and-a-half years.