A professional delivery driver has been sent to prison for six years after his decision to execute a dangerous overtake resulted in a head-on collision that killed a seven-year-old girl.
A Catastrophic Manoeuvre on a Dangerous Road
Veselin Dudenski, 39, was working, delivering parcels on January 3 this year, when the fatal incident occurred on Metheringham Heath Lane in Nocton, Lincolnshire. The court heard that Dudenski, an experienced driver of 17 years, moved his Citroen Relay van into the opposite lane to overtake another vehicle.
As he did so, he was approaching a hidden dip in the single-carriageway road. This dip obscured his view of oncoming traffic, specifically a blue Kia Rio driven by a man with his daughter as a passenger. Dudenski collided head-on with the Kia.
Prosecutor Claire Holmes told Lincoln Crown Court that road signs and markings warning of the hidden dip were present approximately 425 metres from the crash site. She stated that a “careful and competent driver should have been fully aware” of the hazard and that had Dudenski waited, he would have seen the Kia.
The Tragic Consequences of the Crash
Seven-year-old Elsie Gascoigne was sitting in the rear passenger seat of the Kia during the collision. She sustained catastrophic injuries and died in hospital the following day.
Her father, who had taken her shopping and to McDonald's earlier that day, was also seriously injured. He suffered fractures to his breast bone, lower back, and arm, injuries described as having “major” and “significant long-term implications”.
In a heart-wrenching statement read to the court, Elsie’s parents, who attended the sentencing, described their daughter as ‘bright, loving, funny and full of life’. They said, “Losing Elsie is not just the loss of a child, it’s the loss of our entire future. We have lost her laughter, her dreams and everything she would have become.”
Sentencing and Aftermath
At a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, November 28, 2025, Dudenski, of Cherry Avenue, Branston, was sentenced. He had previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told him, “You simply did not take the time and care you needed to ensure that when you crossed the centre line into the other carriageway it was clear.”
In addition to the six-year prison term, Veselin Dudenski was disqualified from driving for eight years. As a foreign national, he is also now liable for automatic deportation from the UK.
His defence barrister, Charles Myatt, said his client had made a “catastrophic error of judgement” and genuinely believed the road was clear, failing to observe the warning sign. It was confirmed that Dudenski was not speeding, intoxicated, or otherwise distracted at the time of the crash.
Detective Sergeant Kate Johnston of Lincolnshire Police concluded, “Dudenski’s decision to carry out an overtaking manoeuvre on a dark undulating road has ended with the worst of all outcomes.”
