JAILED: Mother who lied about being driver in fatal smash

Liga Jaskova initially told officers she had been driving the Volkswagen Passat that witnesses said they saw involved in a 'high-speed race' with a Fiat through country roads around Shifnal.

The Fiat, driven by Armands Ozolins, crashed into a hedge in Stump Lane, Weston Heath.

Mr Ozolins, 26, of Great Chatwell near Newport, suffered severe injuries before he died in hospital the next day.

A horse was also killed in the crash and the rider Wendy Garrett lost a finger and suffered serious cuts and bruises.

Latvian-born Jaskova, 30, of Turreff Avenue, Donnington, Telford, told police she was driving the other car and was initially charged with causing death by dangerous driving and driving without insurance.

But she later retracted her statement, which she said she had made under pressure from others, and pleaded guilty instead to a charge of perverting the course of justice.

Disqualified driver Helmuts Punovskis, also of Turreff Avenue, who was seen cradling Mr Ozolins at the crash scene before speeding off in the Passat, was charged with the more serious offence instead.

He was later discovered near the crash scene at Chadwell Farm by police after a witness pointed out the car to them.

Jaskova - with a one-month-old baby - was seen sitting in the driver's seat, the court had been told.

Punovskis was jailed for 12 years after being found guilty by unanimous verdict by a jury of causing death by dangerous driving following a trial.

The 31-year-old was also found guilty of a further offence of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

During the trial Punovskis said that on the day of the crash in September 2012 he had been a passenger in his car, which he claimed was being driven by his friend Jaskova.

The court heard how Jaskova, who initially admitted that she was driving the car, had since come forward to police to say she was pressured into saying so.

During sentencing at Shrewsbury Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Gosling said Punovskis had "acted carelessly and selfishly", and had shown "no remorse" for the accident.

Following the verdict, Mrs Garrett thanked the jury and witnesses for enabling Punovskis to be brought to justice.

Judge Gosling said: "The seriousness of this could not be over-stated.

"It had a profound effect on this young lady's life – as a mother, sports woman, professional employee and wife.

"You have shown no remorse for what you did.

"You were involved in a race which covered several miles between your home and the farm where Mr Ozolins worked.

"Four witnesses driving in the opposite direction gave graphic accounts of the excessive speed you two were driving.

"It was a persistent and long piece of really bad driving – it killed your friend."