An asylum seeker has been jailed for killing a grandfather in a crash while working illegally as a DPD van driver under a false name.

Vladimir Stratan lied to police after speeding across a junction from a side road without stopping or looking and hitting motorcyclist Mark Colwill, who was riding on the main road.

Stratan came to Britain from Moldova under a false name and was working in Cornwall and West Devon using a driving licence in the name of Viaral Mirescu last summer. He did not have a licence or insurance of his own.

He had already been prosecuted in Stranraer, Scotland for having false papers and moved to Devon after being freed with an ‘admonishment’. He claimed to be living in a hotel in Roche while working at a nearby parcels depot.

Mr Colwill had no chance to avoid the collision at Sandymoor, Ashwater, and suffered very serious injuries after being thrown into a ditch by the impact. He was airlifted to hospital in Plymouth but died within hours.

The accident happened very close to his home and his wife and one of his daughters rushed to the scene, where they saw him in severe pain.

He had become a grandfather for the first time a year earlier and his family have been left heartbroken by his death. His wife Karen and daughters Emma and Natalie all wrote personal statements which were read to Exeter Crown Court.

Emma sobbed as she told how the family’s suffering had been aggravated by Stratan’s lies, especially after they saw him on his knees at the scene, apparently praying.

She said: "At first I felt sorry for him and thought it was unfair he was going to have to live with but when I heard he had given false details I was devastated.

“I felt he did not care about my Dad and was just praying that he would not get found out. Where were the checks? How was he employed as a driver despite not holding a licence or being insured? On that night, out lives changed forever. We got a life sentence.”

Emma said her one-year-old son Beau had been deprived of his grandfather and her dreams of Mr Colwill driving her to her wedding on his unique motor-trike had been shattered.

Stratan, 26, of Murch Rise, West Clyst, near Exeter, admitted perverting the course of justice, and causing death by careless driving and while uninsured and with a false licence.

He was jailed for a year and ten months by Judge David Evans at Exeter Crown Court and banned from driving for five years after his release. The judge said the public would expect him to be deported on or before his release.

He told him: “You were not allowed to work in this country, given your immigration status, and you had no licence to drive. Despite that, you took a job as a driver.

“You approached the junction at speed and don’t seemed to have stopped or slowed down before driving straight across it. Tragically. Mr Colwill’s motorcycle was approaching. He was riding perfectly competently and you gave him to take evasive action.

“He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. I have heard their victim personal statements. They are heart-breaking in detailing the effect your poor driving and deceit have caused.”

Caroline Bolt, prosecuting, said 58-year-old Mr Colwill was on his way to a bike meet and was on the main road from Ashwater to Holsworthy road at 8.30pm on August 10 last year when Stratan’s van came from a side road into his path.

Stratan drove through a Give Way sign without stopping and admitted he only looked right and did not see the bike. He gave false details to police spelling out the name on his licence.

He was allowed to leave the scene but the address on the licence turned out not to exist and he was traced to his home, where he continued to claim to be Mr Mirescu and gave another address in Dumfries, Scotland.

The truth only emerged after his fingerprints were checked. Police discovered four speeding tickets next to his bed which he had picked up while driving the Transit van in Cornwall in June and July, all under the false name.

Miss Bolt said Stratan received an admonishment, the equivalent of a conditional discharge, from Stranraer Sherriff Court on March 13, 2022, for entering Britain in October 2021 with false identification papers in the name of a Romanian called Sergei Bagrin.

Miss Anishi Kiri, defending, read out a letter of apology from Stratan to the Colwill family. She said he is truly remorseful and had given the false details because he knew he was not allowed to work.

She said he had been blinded by the sun at the time of the accident and had been working to support his wife and four-year-old son while waiting for his asylum claim to be processed.