A man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after he was found guilty at Kingston Crown Court today of killing two people, including a Weybridge taxi driver, by causing a crash on the A3 in 2008.

Deane Girdler, 44, from Woodham, faced two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, following the crash just south of the junction with Copsem Lane (A244) after midnight on Saturday, January 19, 2008.

Preston Trueick, 61, a black cab driver from Weybridge, and Catherine Cunningham, 67, from Liphook, Hampshire, died in the crash.

Girdler, who lived in Cobham at the time of the crash, was found guilty of causing the death of Mr Trueick after a trial last July, but this was quashed by the Court of Appeal in December.

The jury in last year’s trial could not come to a decision on whether he was guilty of causing Ms Cunningham’s death, which resulted in a retrial regarding both deaths this year.

After the verdict, Mr Trueick’s wife Mary said she was relieved “justice had been achieved”.

She said: “We have been waiting for more than two years for this day and we are grateful to the jury for coming to the right decision and to the witnesses who came forward after this dreadful incident.

“In all of this time Deane Girdler has never shown remorse, only denial and a fantastic sense of self-preservation. Now, in the eyes of the law, he must accept responsibility for his actions.”

More reaction to the guilty verdict to follow on elmbridgeguardian.co.uk