Widow pleads for driver who killed her husband while doing U-turn to be spared jail

A pensioner who killed a motorcyclist as he did a U-turn in his car has been spared prison after a plea for leniency from the biker's widow.

William Curtis, 89, said “I don’t want to drive”, and appeared tearful as he sat in a wheelchair and used a hearing loop to listen to proceedings at Cambridge Crown Court.

The defendant was found guilty at an earlier trial at the same court of causing the death of 66-year-old David Fudge by careless driving on the A4146 near Billington, Bedfordshire, on November 18 2018.

When prosecutor Simon Wilshire said that father-of-two Mr Fudge’s widow, Claire Montgomery, “does not seek Mr Curtis to go to prison”, the defendant dabbed his eyes with his hand.

Judge Jonathan Seely said the indication by Mrs Montgomery “speaks volumes about the decency, compassion and understanding of Mrs Montgomery and is an extraordinary tribute to her”.

He told Curtis that Mr Fudge “has been taken from those who love him because of your driving, and the sense of utter loss and grief on the part of those who love him is almost physically palpable”.

'Innocent victim of this avoidable tragedy'

The judge said he had seen a letter from the defendant in which he “expressed heartfelt sorrow and remorse” for what happened, adding he is satisfied that he is “genuinely remorseful”.

He sentenced Curtis to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for two years.

Mrs Montgomery said, in a victim impact statement read to the court by their son, Luke Fudge: “Dave was the innocent victim of this avoidable tragedy.

“He merely went for a Sunday ride out with his friends but never came home.”

She said that “every morning I wake up with the image of my husband somersaulting over Mr Fudge’s car”.

Mrs Montgomery said Mr Fudge was “loved by all”, describing him as a “devoted husband” who was also a “typical aerospace engineer” and a governor at Luton Sixth Form College.

She said her husband was considered an “extremely experienced, confident and safe motorbike rider”.

Mrs Montgomery said Mr Fudge “would never get to see his baby twin granddaughters, born last year”, and that the “retirement he worked long and hard for was cut brutally short”.

Ian Bridge, mitigating, said the crash “haunts” the defendant, of Irchester, Northamptonshire, though he “has no proper memory of it”.

“I should say once again for the record how devastated he is by what’s happened,” Mr Bridge said.

Curtis was disqualified from driving for three years and would have to complete an extended retest if he were to apply for a licence.

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