Jailed: BMW driver who killed motorcyclist while speeding on wrong side of road

Speeding driver: Vasile Flore
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A BMW driver who struck and killed a motorcyclist while speeding on the wrong side of the road has been jailed for three years.

Construction manager Vasile Flore, 29, had just overtaken his friend and was speeding in the opposite lane when he came face-to-face with Stephen Flood’s Honda motorbike.

Mr Flood slammed on the brakes to try to avoid a crash, but came off his bike and slid along the road until his body was struck by the oncoming BMW.

Shocking CCTV footage shown during Flore’s Old Bailey trial showed Mr Flood’s body being flung along the road “like a tennis ball” just seconds after he had slammed on the brakes.

Flore insisted he had been within the 30mph speed limit and in his own lane at the time of the crash, on Shepiston Lane, Hayes on February 20 last year.

However, expert evidence showed the driver had drifted up to 1.2m into the opposite lane and was speeding at between 41-50mph.

He pleaded not guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, but was convicted by a jury after trial. Judge Gerald Gordon sentenced him to three years in prison last week(fri).

“The motorcyclist was on his right hand side on the ground at the point of impact with Mr Flore’s BMW”, prosecutor Philip Stott told the court.

“It appears the reason for that was because of a braking manoeuvre by Mr Flood – at the point of impact Mr Flore’s BMW was inside the oncoming lane by 1.2m.

“The speed limit at that point was 30mph and the minimum speed of Mr Flore’s BMW was somewhere between 41 and 50mph.”

The court heard Flore had overtaken his friend moments before the crash, but was accused of telling him not to mention the manoeuvre to police.

Describing the point of impact, defence counsel David Smith told the court: “As Mr Flood came into contact with the car, he was effectively knocked like a tennis ball back in the direction he had just come from, but his motorbike continued in the forward direction.”

Paramedics and air ambulance crew tried to save Mr Flood following the 5.45am crash, but he was declared dead at the scene.

Flore, of St Martin’s Road, West Drayton, was also banned from driving for four years.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT