Fatal crash: 'I feel my life has ended' says widow

A widow told how she has lost the desire to live after her husband was killed in a tragic head-on crash on the A27 at Fontwell with a motorist accused of sex offences.

Petronella Thorpe, of Whiteways, Bognor Regis, lost her beloved husband Cyril (64) when his Nissan Sunny collided with a Skoda driven by Raymond Swinford, who on Monday admitted driving dangerously.

Wheelchair-bound Swinford (75) had denied the crash on June 13, 2006, was a suicide bid after being accused of sex offences and instead claimed he had decided not to end his life just before it happened because he thought it was 'illegal'.

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Mrs Thorpe sat in the public gallery in Lewes Crown Court with her son Gavin and daughter Eloise as her statement was read out: "I have tried so hard to continue with my life without the man I loved so much but I cannot.

"I visited the cemetery at least once a day but I know he is not coming back. I just want to be with Cyril. I feel as if my life has ended without him.

"Cyril was and still is my whole life. There is not a moment in a day when I don't think of him.

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We should still be together and I know one day we will.'

Swinford, of Chapel Close, Littlehampton, walked free from court after admitting the charge because although he was jailed for 17 months he will not spend any time behind bars after serving eight-and-a-half months on remand following his arrest '“ the equivalent of a 17-month sentence.

He also admitted two offences of sexually assaulting two young children, a boy and girl aged seven and 10, in the 1990s.

Twelve other charges of sexual abuse, which he denied, will remain on the court file and a formal not guilty verdict was recorded on the manslaughter charge.

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The court heard on the day of the crash Swinford, who has no previous convictions, had left his partner, Debbie Rogers, a note claiming he was taking his own life because he could no longer cope with his failing health.

After she alerted the police an officer spotted Swinford's car on the A27 before turning on his flashing lights to try to get him to stop only for him to speed away along Brittens Lane.

The officer denied he had chased the car after concerns about Swinford's state of mind but as he followed he saw the fatal crash.

Swinford claimed he changed his mind about ending his life, however, before crashing and said he parked his car and planned instead to take an overdose of painkillers washed down with brandy.

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But after '˜counting his blessings' he decided against suicide and planned to drive home but panicked when he saw the police officer behind him and decided to throw the pills out of the window.

When he reached to the footwell to get the pills, however, he accidentally veered across the road and caused the crash that catapulted grandfather Mr Thorpe's car into a tree.

Swinford was trapped in his car but survived with minor injuries.

The court heard he suffers from emphysema, heart and kidney problems and cancer and may have just months to live.

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Sentencing him, Judge Richard Brown told him: 'This is clearly a very tragic case.

'For the members of the Thorpe family no sentence this court could ever pass can help to reduce the devastation brought into their lives by the loss of a beloved husband, father and grandfather.'

Swinford was also banned from driving for five years.

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