A BEAUTICIAN was killed by her boyfriend in a horror high-speed crash as they raced to buy Christmas presents for each other.
Natalia Kulik, 30, suffered serious injuries when the BMW 320d ploughed through a roundabout barrier and plunged onto a pedestrian walkway below.
Her boyfriend Peter Clarke, 34, lost control of the high-performance vehicle while driving at twice the speed limit.
The couple had been heading into Manchester on October 27, 2019, to buy each other Christmas gifts when the tragic smash occurred.
Clarke had accelerated along a sliproad coming off the A6 in Salford when he clipped a kerb and lost control, just after 12:30pm.
The BMW veered through the railings of a roundabout, hit a stone wall and landed on the passenger side in an underpass - while Natalia was in the front seat.
A police accident report estimated Clarke was travelling at between 73 to 83mph in the moments before the impact.
Mum-of-one Natalia was cut from the wreckage by emergency services but went into cardiac arrest and sadly died shortly afterward.
Clarke was left fighting for life with multiple fractures and spent two weeks in hospital, but made a miraculous recovery.
The heartbroken boyfriend claims he has no recollection of the incident and could not explain why he was driving so fast.
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He admitted causing death by dangerous driving at Manchester Crown Court and was jailed for three years and four months.
He was banned from driving for four years which will start when he is freed from jail.
Natalia's grief-stricken family, who are from Poland, refused to cooperate with the prosecution after insisting her death was a tragic accident.
The pair, from Kearsley, near Bolton, had been an item for 18 months and were said to have been in a "happy and loving relationship".
Both of them have a child from previous relationships.
Police later recovered dashcam footage showing the BMW hurtling past at high speed before careering to the nearside and off onto the slip road.
The speed limit is 40mph on the A6, and 30mph on the slip road.
This tragedy was down to no more and no less than excessive speed.
Nicola GattoOne eyewitness thought the BMW was driving so fast that it was being chased by police, while another described it "flying" down the road.
A bus driver who witnessed the crash recalled: "It was going really fast and I knew it was not going to stop."
The court heard Clarke had previously been advised not to drive due to the risk of having an epileptic fit, but there was no suggestion he had a seizure in the moments before the crash.
He had bought the car a week earlier from his father, who had purchased it at an auction.
In mitigation for Clarke, defence counsel Nicola Gatto, said her client had a clean driving licence and "led a law abiding life".
She said: "This tragedy was down to no more and no less than excessive speed.
"He says up that point it was a happy day, they were travelling into Manchester and he remembers they were going to go Christmas shopping.
'TRAGEDY'
"Miss Kulik was his partner and his grief is immeasurable and it is clear her family accept they had a very loving and caring relationship.
"They accept that he is devastated at the loss of Ms Kulik, as they are too. She is a young woman who he very much cared for and loved.
"Since she died he has had no substantial relationships because he is still grieving. He describes his relationship with Miss Kulik as effortless.
"It is clear that he feels significant guilt and significant remorse and this is something that is likely to remain with him for the many years to come.
"This is a tragedy for all concerned. What sentence is passed isn’t going to bring Miss Kulik back.
"There isn’t a day that doesn’t go by when he doesn’t think of her and when he doesn’t regret his actions on that day."
Sentencing Clarke, Judge Suzanne Goddard QC told him: “There is no explanation for the speed you were travelling that day and what motivated you to drive at such a high speed in what was, to me, very obviously dangerous circumstances.
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"Nevertheless it is of course a fact that Natalia Kulik lost her life, and her son lost his mother, because of your actions that day.
"For that, you must be punished."
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