A BUSINESSMAN has been jailed for four years after being found guilty of causing the death of a pensioner in a four-vehicle smash.
James Storry killed Graham Moss when his high-powered Audi ploughed into vehicles in Nottingham Road, Trowell.
Storry first hit a tractor trailer.
Then he collided with a Nissan Micra, driven by Mr Moss, of Ilkeston, and finally a Honda.
Witnesses at Nottingham Crown Court described the Audi as "going very, very fast", "like hell" and "travelling too fast around the bend, with its wheels about to come off the road".
The driver of the Honda alleged that the car was going 70mph-80mph and claimed it was on the wrong side of the road.
After hitting the trailer last August, Storry's Audi collided with the Nissan, spun round and struck the Honda.
Expert evidence showed that Storry, 31, of Cossall Road, Trowell, was not wearing his seatbelt.
After the accident, he walked back to his home nearby to phone the emergency services, as the battery on his mobile phone was flat, and to alert his wife that he had been involved in an accident.
He returned to the crash scene half an hour later.
Judge Andrew Hamilton said yesterday that he found Storry's explanation for going home unconvincing.
He banned him from the roads for four years, and ordered him to pay more than £4,000 toward prosecution costs.
Storry's defence was that he was rushing home because he thought his house had been burgled.
The court heard that he had spent the evening with fellow churchgoers before looking at his mobile at the end of the night.
There were text messages on his phone about a burglary at an empty property he owned.
He thought the text messages had just been sent but they were actually six hours old.
"You got into your high-powered car and, on the road, you put your foot down," said the judge.
Storry, who denied causing death by dangerous driving but was convicted after a trial, claimed he did not know at the time that it was his car that had driven into the two vehicles. He believed the Nissan had driven into the back of the trailer.
After the hearing, Acting Detective Inspector Ged Hazelwood, of Nottinghamshire Police's Crash Investigation Unit, said: "This sentence reflects both the fact that someone died as a result of dangerous driving by Storry, and that Storry denied responsibility for the collision, choosing instead to blame other factors for causing the crash, principally the farmer, who was wholly innocent and whose driving was totally exonerated by the witnesses.
"This attempt at shifting the blame to the farmer appalled the trial judge.
"The fact is that one person is dead, a widow has been left behind and a man of previous good character is now beginning a lengthy prison sentence because of his driving behaviour.
"We have a large car driving and heavily populated country that does not have roads built for speed."
He continued: "Driving at excessive speed is therefore a massive factor in causing crashes which result in nothing but death or serious injury and shattered lives for those left behind.
"No one ever wins and it is so utterly needless.
"Hopefully, this case will sound alarm bells everywhere and act as a shot across the bows for anyone considering driving at excessive speed."
Storry will serve half his sentence before being eligible for parole.
