Migrant Keith Vaz greeted died high on cocaine... at 100mph
ONE of the first Romanians to come to Britain when immigration rules were relaxed died in a 100mph crash after taking cocaine, an inquest heard.
Victor Spirescu, 33, had been disqualified from driving and was not wearing a seatbelt when his car ploughed into a bush.
The construction worker, from Transylvania, shot to fame when he was welcomed at Luton Airport by Keith Vaz, then chairman of the home affairs select committee, as he arrived in Britain on New Year’s Day in 2014.
But he died on January 15 this year when he tried to perform a dangerous manoeuvre in a black Mitsubushi Galant.
Mr Spirescu was driving his friend Eugen Condurache. Mr Condurache told the coroner they were driving to the shops to buy cigarettes when Mr Spirescu wanted to show him how to do a ‘doughnut’, a trick where a car completes a 360 degree turn, leaving skid marks on the road.
He said his friend was not wearing a seatbelt and was travelling between 100-110mph.
Mr Spirescu, who was driving in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, lost control of the car and was flung from the vehicle when it crashed into a bush.
‘He was screaming in a panic, he knew something was going to happen,’ said Mr Condurache.
A passer-by called an ambulance but Mr Spirescu died of multiple fractures at the scene.
As well as driving while disqualified, Mr Spirescu’s MoT had also expired, according to Andy Evans, forensic collision investigator for Thames Valley Police.
Pathologist Dr Jenish Patel said his use of cocaine and alcohol were contributing factors to his death.
Tom Osborne, senior coroner for Milton Keynes, said it was ‘fortunate no other vehicles were involved’. Mr Osborne concluded that Mr Spirescu died as a result of a road traffic collision.
Mr Spirescu’s arrival in Britain was well documented by the Press when he landed in Luton on January 1, 2014.
He was one of the first to come from the eastern European country following the changes for Romanian and Bulgarian work-
‘I come here to work’
ers. Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, but controls were imposed by some member states.
Despite earlier fears of an ‘invasion’ after the restrictions expired, Mr Spirescu was one of a handful of people who flew over on New Year’s Day.
The construction worker was greeted by Mr Vaz, who treated him to a Costa coffee. Former Conservative MP Mark Reckless had joined Mr Vaz to welcome the Romanian immigrants to Britain.
Speaking at the time, Mr Spirescu said he had learned English by watching films and television channel MTV, and said he was ‘excited’ to start work. He said he earned around £8.89 a day as a construction worker in Poland and hoped to get paid that much for an hour’s work in Britain.
Mr Spirescu told reporters he was ‘not here to rob your country’, adding: ‘I come here to work because I love to work. Here you pay a lot. In Romania it’s very cheap.’ The following day, newspapers branded him the ‘poster boy’ for Romanian immigration.
When he arrived in Britain, he had a job washing cars in an Aldi car park in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, but resigned after just one day to return to the construction industry. He later ran his own air conditioning firm, as well as working for a local property tycoon, Glenn Armstrong.
Mr Spirescu had initially planned to bring his then 19-year-old wife Catalina Curcean to Britain, but it is unknown if she ever left Romania. He started dating fiancee Suzana Mates three years ago and proposed to her in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, in April 2016.
In January Miss Mates told Mail Online she felt ‘exhausted and devastated’ by the news of his death. She said: ‘He was so smart, so intelligent, he was the happiest person on earth, a wonderful human being and he also said carpe diem – live life to the full.’