Jail for the 'callous' killer driver who rushed off to catch a ferry

John Richards was changing lanes at up to 95mph when his Range Rover collided with Carol Gajda's white Rover on the M4 near Porthcawl, South Wales.

The grandmother, 48, died when she was thrown from her vehicle as it flipped over and crashed into an embankment.

Following the accident, Richards stopped briefly and gave his details to another motorist.

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But then he said "I've got to catch a ferry" and fled.

Officers arrested the 63-yearold after he and his wife boarded the Swansea to Cork ferry, Cardiff Crown Court heard. Richards, who denied causing death by dangerous driving, called Tory peer Lord Mancroft and stand-up comedian Jethro as character witnesses during his four-day trial.

Lord Mancroft told the jury: "I think Mr Richards is the most extraordinary, dependable of people.

"He is reliable, generous in spirit and manner, a pillar of the local community - unusual these days."

But the jury found Richards, the owner of 600-acre Lordswood Farm, near Malmesbury, Wiltshire, unanimously guilty.

Judge Stephen Hopkins QC jailed Richards for two-and-ahalfyears and banned him from driving for four years.

He told Richards it "beggared belief" that he had driven off after causing the fatal accident in March last year.

The judge added: "I have been watching you as the evidence has unfolded and at times half a smile has played across your lips. You are not only callous but I think I am dealing with an arrogant man."

After the trial, the family of Mrs Gajda, a barmaid from Pencoed near Bridgend, South Wales, said: "She was a wonderful mother and grandmother.

"It is very sad to us that at the time of the accident she had another grandchild on the way but we never had the chance to tell her."