Veselin Dudenski: Delivery driver jailed for killing seven-year-old Elsie Gascoigne in horror head-on smash

A delivery van driver who caused a horrific head-on collision that killed a seven-year-old girl on a quiet country road has been jailed for six years.

Veselin Dudenski, 39, was behind the wheel when he attempted a reckless overtake on a stretch of road marked with warnings for a hidden dip, a manoeuvre that proved fatal for young Elsie Gascoigne.

Moments after the impact, a witness who saw the child in the back seat confronted him, saying, “you killed a kid”.

Dudenski, who was working as a subcontracted courier at the time, pleaded guilty in September at Lincoln Crown Court to causing death by dangerous driving. Elsie suffered catastrophic neck injuries in the crash on the B1202 on January 3 and died in hospital the next day.

Prosecutor Claire Holmes told the court that Dudenski had already overtaken a Ford Ranger moments earlier, but then moved across the centre line again to pass another vehicle despite clear signage warning drivers of the concealed dip. The driver behind him said the first overtake was acceptable but described the second as “silly”.

Miss Holmes said, “There were warnings of the hidden dip, road signs and road markings… Either Dudenski paid insignificant attention and did not see the warnings or he saw them and ignored them.”

Elsie’s father, who was driving, attempted to swerve but was unable to avoid a direct collision, The Mirror reported. The Ford Ranger driver ran to help but could not open the crushed doors of the Kia. Mr Gascoigne was also seriously injured and now lives with a permanent elbow disability, ongoing flashbacks and nightmares.

A heartbreaking victim impact statement written by Elsie’s mother was read to the court.

“That day destroyed our lives and everything we were as a family,” she wrote, describing her daughter as a little girl who “loved animals, especially horses and dreamed of owning a white horse.”

She added, “We will never recover from this. Our daughter was seven years old, full of love, light and laughter, and she is gone forever.”

Defence counsel Mr Myatt said Dudenski had been a professional driver for 17 years with an unblemished record and was engaged with a young son of his own.

But Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight said his conduct reflected a dangerous “lack of patience”. She accepted he did not realise the full risk posed by the dip but told him: “You were tragically wrong about that.”

Referring to his account to the police, she said: “In your interview, you said you waited for a few seconds, but as I have found, that simply can not be true.”

Dudenski received six years’ imprisonment for causing Elsie’s death, along with a concurrent 22-month term for the serious injuries inflicted on her father. He was disqualified from driving for eight years and will be required to complete an extended retest.

The court also heard that although Dudenski has permanent settled status in the UK, his conviction means he now faces mandatory deportation.