Man who caused a collision killing an Essex taxi driver has been jailed for two and a half years

Image credit: Essex Police

A man who caused a collision where a taxi driver died, and then ran off from the scene, has been jailed.

Cab driver, Norman Bullock, had been driving along Brentwood Road in Orsett just after 4am on 5 October when his red Peugeot 308 taxi was struck by a Black BMW X5.

Following the collision witnesses reporting seeing the driver of the BMW leave the vehicle and make off.

When emergency services arrived Norman, 65, was still in his vehicle and despite the best efforts of paramedics, sadly he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Checks on the BMW established it had been stolen from an address in Hertfordshire around an hour before the collision.

Two days later officers stopped a vehicle in Wickford containing 22 year-old Edvinas Pupkis.

While booking him into custody on a separate matter, officers were able to establish he matched the description of the man who had made off from the collision in Orsett.

He was further arrested and later charged.

At Basildon Crown Court on Friday 11 December, Pupkis, of Devonshire Road, Ilford, admitted causing death by careless driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving without insurance, failing to stop at the scene of a collision, and failing to report a collision.

At the same court on Tuesday 22 December he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and banned from driving for four years.