Man who crashed his 'death trap' modified BMW killing cherished girlfriend while speeding on A32 jailed

Liam Pusey, 23, has been put behind bars following the horror crash along the A32 Wickham Road, between Wickham and Droxford, on February 4, 2021. Jurors heard Melissa Orsborn was sat in the front passenger seat when Pusey lost control of the car and span into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Pusey was driving north in his grey BMW 320D Sport at roughly 7.55pm at speeds of between 69mph and 85mph in a 50mph zone, court heard. He was driving just 24 metres behind a car in front in wet conditions, causing it to lose control.

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The car smashed into a silver Volkswagen Golf travelling south. Court heard it was being driven by Louisa Wray, 37, of Fareham, who despite her best effort 'could do nothing'.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and Miss Orsborn was cut out of the vehicle. She was taken to Southampton General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Ms Wray suffered a broken left wrist, a broken right foot and was hospitalised. Pusey was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, causing death by driving a vehicle while uninsured and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The court heard that Pusey had heavily modified his BMW for drifting – removing the anti roll bar and welding the differential to 'deliberately' reduce the vehicle's traction. Jurors were told that Pusey had worn down his tyres through sliding so much that the construction cords were exposed on the inner edge of the front offside tyre.

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A forensic examiner told the jury the BMW was in such a dangerous condition it should not have been driven on a public road. Pusey, of the A339 in Herriard, has been sentenced to nine years in prison – disqualified from driving five years after his release. He was condemned by the judge for 'dicing with the lives' of himself and his girlfriend.

Judge William Ashworth said: ‘This was clearly a deliberate decision by you to ignore the rules of the road. You deliberately sabotaged its inbuilt safety features which are there to prevent a loss of control.

‘I have no doubt in my mind you removed the anti-roll bar - there is no doubt you did it.’

‘The car was a death trap in normal conditions, but driving it as you were, which rear end was deliberately modified to lost traction was an obvious and unreasonable decision to even think about driving the vehicle, let alone the way that you did,’ the judge added.

Matthew Farmer, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant was driving a dangerously modified car which rendered it uninsured and prone to sliding.’ Richard Orsborn, Melissa's father, said in his victim statement his daughter 'had meant the world to me' and the night of the crash had 'changed his life forever'.

Police Constable Lucy Hawkins, of the roads policing serious collision investigation unit, said: ‘Liam Pusey showed total disregard for the safety of his passenger and other road users by speeding in a dangerously unsafe vehicle. His recklessness has taken the life of one woman and put another in hospital.

‘I hope the result we got today makes other drivers think twice about their driving and the state of their vehicles.’