Driver who crashed while high on drink and drugs, killing his housemate, is jailed

A motorist who crashed while high on drink and drugs, killing his housemate, has been jailed.

Ionut Dumitru was driving a recently purchased grey BMW 5 Series southbound on the A21 London Road, at Flimwell, when he left the carriageway and collided with a tree.

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of 14 December, tragically resulted in the death of his front seat passenger and friend, Marius-Madalin Bizoi, aged 24.

The pair lived together at an address in Heartenoak Road, Hawkhurst, Kent, and had been travelling towards a petrol station to buy cigarettes when the collision happened.

A number of other motorists stopped at the scene to assist, but prior to the arrival of emergency services, Dumitru had fled the scene on foot.

He was later found asleep at his home, where he was arrested. Blood samples revealed he was significantly over the limit for both alcohol and drugs.

The 31-year-old roofer was subsequently charged with causing death by careless driving when unfit through drugs; causing death by careless driving when unfit through alcohol; causing death by driving whilst unlicensed; and causing death by driving whilst uninsured.

He pleaded guilty to all four offences, and at Lewes Crown Court on Thursday 4 March, he received two six-year prison sentences, to run concurrently (six years total), and was disqualified from driving for eight years

Only weeks earlier, on 22 November, Dumitru had been arrested and convicted of drink-driving, driving while unlicensed and driving while uninsured in Surrey.

He was fined and disqualified from driving for 20 months.

In sentencing of this case, Judge Christie Laing QC credited the defendant for his early guilty plea, which reduced his sentence by a third.

"Even if it was the first time you had taken drugs, you were also more than twice the drink-drive limit."

Detective Inspector Sue Neilson, of the Sussex Police Serious Collision Investigations Unit, said: “It’s no exaggeration that drink and drug-driving destroys lives. It is clearly evident in this case, where a young man has tragically lost his life, while the driver was able to walk away from the wreckage of his car relatively unscathed. He will have to live with this for the rest of his life, but so too will the family and friends of Mr Bizoi.