A LORRY driver who watched Romanian TV moments before a fatal crash has been sentenced to nine years in jail.

Viorel Sadulache, 26, from Croydon, was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of causing the death of 21-year-old Abi Harvey.

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Tragic - 21-year-old Abi Harvey

The driver previously admitted causing death by careless driving but had denied causing death by dangerous driving.

The crash took place on the Dartford Crossing in the early hours of November 3 2017.

Ms Harvey, a former Seevic College student from Benfleet, was driving her silver Audi A1 when it was involved in the crash with the lorry on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge

She was flown to Royal London Hospital with a serious injury but sadly died three days later.

Footage from the lorry’s cab recovered by detectives showed the moments before the crash and the court was told Sandulache “would have been playing that television show on his phone at the time of the collision”

Police Constable David Jeeves, Kent Police’s investigating officer for this case, said: “Sandulache displayed shockingly poor standards of driving in the moments leading up to the collision and his decision to watch a television show at the wheel has ultimately killed an innocent, young woman.

“There is no excuse for the decision he chose to make yet he denied the offence in court, forcing the victim’s family to go through a trial on top of the trauma of losing a loved one.”

He added: “No sentence is going to undo the damage he has caused.

“If anything comes from this sentence, I hope other motorists learn from the lessons of this case so another life is not needlessly lost.”