Romanian van driver jailed for killing triathlete Rebecca Comins to be deported
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A Romanian van driver jailed for killing Team GB triathlete Rebecca Comins by driving into the back of her bike has lost an appeal against being deported.
Visile Barbu, 50, was delivering furniture to a driver in Calais when he hit Rebecca Comins’ bike in June 2022. He drove straight into the back of her rather than move into an empty lane of the dual carriageway.
"The nature of the offending is important," said immigration judge Ian Boyes, “This was not an accident. It was not a slight misjudgement. It was committed using a vehicle which should not have been on the road.”
Comins, 52, was nine minutes into a cycling time trial on the A40 near Raglan, Monmouthshire, when Barbu tried to overtake. He claimed he saw her but did not know why he hit her, stating he would ask himself that question for his "whole life".
The vehicle examiner found that Barbu’s van was unfit for the road and its load overweight, increasing emergency breaking distances and ability to turn the wheel.
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