Speeding driver Blane Nunes who killed ‘prized’ father Vladimir Cech jailed for nearly five years

Blane Nunes, of Jenkins Street, Newport, killed Vladimir Cech after driving a modified high performance VW Golf GTi on a city residential street at 85mph in a 30mph zone.

The 26-year-old pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in the early hours of April 25 on Caerleon Road.

He crashed into the back of a Skoda Fabia, in which Mr Cech was a passenger, hitting it into a parked vehicle. 

At Newport Crown Court, Judge Daniel Williams said Nunes had been “showing off” to female passenger Chloe Kidd who had recorded him driving at high speeds on her mobile phone just 10 minutes before the crash.

Prosecutor Gareth James said the defendant fled the scene but was caught after police linked him from DNA he left on the driver seat airbag.

Mr Cech’s daughter Jane, 17, read an emotional victim impact statement to the court.

She said her father, originally from the Czech Republic but who had settled in Newport, was “like a hero” to her and her younger sister Mia, aged 15.

Miss Cechova told how her dad was their protector and she spoke about how “he was like a mother and father to us”.

She added: “My father had paid all the bills. Now we have to rely on charity food parcels and help from friends and colleagues, just to survive.”

Miss Chehova said her and her sister feared being “thrown out on to the streets” because they were struggling for money.

Nikita McNeill, mitigating, said Nunes was a father-of-two who suffered “flashbacks” as a result of the crash.

She added that he had accepted responsibility for what he had done and pleaded guilty.

Judge Williams told Nunes he had driven at an “outrageous speed” nearly three times the limit.

The defendant, he said, has previous convictions for dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and drug driving.

The judge told him: “Mr Cech was a prized father and loving son whose life was needlessly taken away by your disgraceful driving.

“Jane and Mia have been left without a compassionate, funny, hard-working man – their dad.”

Nunes was jailed for four years and eight months.

Outside the court, Catrin Davies, a district crown prosecutor with CPS Cymru-Wales, said: “Nunes was driving at such excessive speed that he could not avoid the collision.

“His actions resulted in devastating consequences.

“Although Nunes initially tried to distance himself from the crime, the CPS and Gwent Police worked together to build a strong case which brought about a guilty plea at court.”