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Delivery driver killed girl, 7, in head-on crash in dangerous overtake

2025-11-28 16:51
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Delivery driver killed girl, 7, in head-on crash in dangerous overtake

He didn't see the dip in the road.

Delivery driver killed girl, 7, in head-on crash in dangerous overtake Sara Odeen-Isbister Sara Odeen-Isbister Published November 28, 2025 4:51pm Updated November 28, 2025 4:51pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments Pictured: Elsie GascoigneElsie?s family, who live in Metheringham, are being supported by specially-trained officers and we ask that members of the public continue to respect their privacy at this incredibly difficult time.We continue to ask for help from anyone who may have been driving along the B1202 at a similar time to the incident, particularly if you witnessed or captured any footage of the incident itself or saw either a blue Kia Rio, a white Citroen Relay or any other vehicles along that road.Please get in touch if you think you can help and have not yet spoken with us. You can do this by emailing the Serious Collision Investigation Team on: SCIUinvestigators@lincs.police.uk, quoting incident number 292 of 3 January. Update: 4 January, 2.55pmWe are saddened to confirm that a seven-year-old girl has died following a collision that was reported to us yesterday evening, 3 January, at approximately 5.45pm on the B1202, Metheringham Heath Lane.The little girl sustained serious injuries in the collision and was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, but sadly died just before 4.30am this morning, Saturday 4th January.The family is being supported by specially-trained officers and we ask that members of the public respect their privacy at this tragic time.The road has now been opened but our investigation is on-going to determine the precise circumstances of the collision.We continue to ask for help from anyone who may have been driving along the B1202 at a similar time to the incident, particularly if you witnessed or captured any footage of the incident itself or saw either a blue Kia Rio, a white Citroen Relay or any other vehicles along that road.Please get in touch if you think you can help and have not yet spoken with us. You can do this by emailing the Serious Collision Investigation Team on: SCIUinvestigators@lincs.police.uk, quoting incident number 292 of 3 January. Original release: 3 January, 10.40pmWe were called a two-vehicle collision between a blue Kia Rio and a white Citroen Relay which is reported to have taken place just before 5.50pm today, 3 January, on the B1202, Metheringham Health Lane, which runs between the A15 and the B1188.Two people are reported to have serious injuries and two others are believed to have sustained minor injuries.Officers investigating the cause of the collision are appealing for witnesses who may have seen, or captured via dashcam, either of those vehicles, or the collision itself who may not have yet spoken to Police. Road closures remain in place between Bloxholm Lane, the B1188, and the A15 while investigations continue. We would like to hear from anyone driving in the area at that time or with any footage of the collision itself to please get in touch.If you can help, please call 101, quoting incident number 292 of 3 January. Elsie Gascoigne, 7, died in hospital the day after the crash (Picture: Lincolnshire Police)

A delivery driver who killed a young girl in a head on crash following a dangerous overtake has been jailed for six years.

Veselin Dudenski, 39, didn’t see the Kia Rio coming in the opposite direction due to a hidden dip in the single carriageway road and smashed his Citreon Relay van straight into it.

There are signs warning drivers of the dip 425 metres from the crash site, which Dudenski, who was delivering parcels at the time, said he didn’t spot.

Seven-year-old Elsie Gascoigne was in the rear passenger seat of the Kia when it crashed on January 3 this year in Metheringham Heath Lane, Nocton, Lincolnshire.

Elsie died in hospital the next day while her father, who was driving the car, was left with permanent injuries.

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Dudenski, who has been driving vans and lorries professionally for 17 years, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving in relation to Elsie’s father.

At the sentencing hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, sitting at the city’s magistrates’, he was sentenced to six years in prison and disqualified from driving for eight years.

He is also liable for automatic deportation because he is a foreign national.

Undated handout photo issued by Lincolnshire Police of Veselin Dudenski, 39, who was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court for causing the death of a seven-year-old girl and injuring her father in a crash due to dangerous driving. Veselin was delivering parcels when he smashed his white Citroen Relay van into a blue Kia Rio containing rear passenger Elsie Gascoigne on the evening of January 3 this year in Metheringham Heath Lane, Nocton, Lincolnshire. Issue date: Friday November 28, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Lincolnshire Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder. Veselin Dudenski has been jailed for six years (Picture: Lincolnshire Police/PA Wire)

Prosecutor Claire Holmes told the court: ‘(The defendant) made a dangerous overtake of an unknown vehicle. At the time he overtook this vehicle, he was approaching a hidden dip in the road.”

She continued: ‘The defendant moved into the Kia’s lane, resulting in a head-on collision between the white van and the blue Kia.

‘There were warnings of the dip, namely a road sign and road markings. A careful and competent driver should have been fully aware of the hidden dip.’

She added that had the defendant waited to overtake, he would have been aware of the Kia travelling on the opposite side of the road.

In a statement read to the court, Elsie’s parents – who attended the sentencing – said she was ‘bright, loving, funny and full of life’.

They added: ‘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.’

They added that Elsie was the centre of her father’s world, and their bond had been ‘shattered#.

The court heard Elsie’s father, who had taken her shopping and to McDonald’s before the crash, suffered fractures to his breast bone, lower back and arm, including a ‘major injury with significant long-term implications’.

Defending Dudenski, Charles Myatt told the court: ‘(The defendant) felt, believed, that the road was clear as he started the overtake.’

Pictured: Elsie Gascoigne Elsie?s family, who live in Metheringham, are being supported by specially-trained officers and we ask that members of the public continue to respect their privacy at this incredibly difficult time. We continue to ask for help from anyone who may have been driving along the B1202 at a similar time to the incident, particularly if you witnessed or captured any footage of the incident itself or saw either a blue Kia Rio, a white Citroen Relay or any other vehicles along that road. Please get in touch if you think you can help and have not yet spoken with us. You can do this by emailing the Serious Collision Investigation Team on: SCIUinvestigators@lincs.police.uk, quoting incident number 292 of 3 January. Update: 4 January, 2.55pm We are saddened to confirm that a seven-year-old girl has died following a collision that was reported to us yesterday evening, 3 January, at approximately 5.45pm on the B1202, Metheringham Heath Lane. The little girl sustained serious injuries in the collision and was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, but sadly died just before 4.30am this morning, Saturday 4th January. The family is being supported by specially-trained officers and we ask that members of the public respect their privacy at this tragic time. The road has now been opened but our investigation is on-going to determine the precise circumstances of the collision. We continue to ask for help from anyone who may have been driving along the B1202 at a similar time to the incident, particularly if you witnessed or captured any footage of the incident itself or saw either a blue Kia Rio, a white Citroen Relay or any other vehicles along that road. Please get in touch if you think you can help and have not yet spoken with us. You can do this by emailing the Serious Collision Investigation Team on: SCIUinvestigators@lincs.police.uk, quoting incident number 292 of 3 January. Original release: 3 January, 10.40pm We were called a two-vehicle collision between a blue Kia Rio and a white Citroen Relay which is reported to have taken place just before 5.50pm today, 3 January, on the B1202, Metheringham Health Lane, which runs between the A15 and the B1188. Two people are reported to have serious injuries and two others are believed to have sustained minor injuries. Officers investigating the cause of the collision are appealing for witnesses who may have seen, or captured via dashcam, either of those vehicles, or the collision itself who may not have yet spoken to Police. Road closures remain in place between Bloxholm Lane, the B1188, and the A15 while investigations continue. We would like to hear from anyone driving in the area at that time or with any footage of the collision itself to please get in touch. If you can help, please call 101, quoting incident number 292 of 3 January. Elsie’s family described her as ‘bright, loving, funny and full of life’ (Picture: Lincolnshire police)

The barrister continued: ‘He did not believe there was a hidden dip there. His genuine belief was that, yes, the road has hidden dips but that is further along.

‘His gross mistake was to not observe the sign.’

Mr Myatt said Dudenski, who sat with his head down the whole hearing, was usually a ‘decent, law-abiding driver’, but made a ‘catastrophic error of judgement’.

The court heard that the delivery driver, of Cherry Avenue, Branston, Lincolnshire, was not distracted, speeding or intoxicated at the time of the crash.

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Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told the defendant: ‘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.’

Detective sergeant Kate Johnston of Lincolnshire Police said: ‘This has been a distressing investigation, involving the tragic loss of a young child.

‘No outcome can ever reflect the terrible pain that is felt by Elsie’s family and friends following her death.

‘Dudenski’s decision to carry out an overtaking manoeuvre on a dark undulating road has ended with the worst of all outcomes.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

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