Woman sentenced after admitting causing death of motorcyclist by careless driving

Natalia Remizovsky, from Littlegreen Road, Woodthorpe, Nottingham, has been sentenced this afternoon (Thursday) at Lincoln Magistrates Court after pleading guilty there last month (Feberuary 3) to causing the death by careless driving of Stewart Bell, 58, due to the collision on the High Road at Belton just after midday on Easter Sunday, April 4 2021.

Today she was sentenced to a community order to complete 100 hours unpaid work, disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £85 costs and a surcharge of £95.

The court heard last month Remizovsky was driving along the A607 at Belton with family members in the car, and they had travelled from Woodthorpe, Nottingham to visit a local attraction.

The road at the location has a junction. It was explained that Remizovsky drove her vehicle into the right turn filter lane and indicated before starting to turn right into the minor road.

Stewart Bell, from Kegworth, was riding his BMW RS motorbike along the A607. It is believed he was riding home, having visited the county. The court heard His headlight was on, and the bike also had spotlights fitted to the front fairings.

The collision happened as Remizivsky turned right into the junction across the path of the motorbike. In interview, she said she was unfamiliar with the junction and didn’t know why she didn’t see the motorbike. Sadly, Mr Bell died at the scene.

A full investigation was completed by Lincolnshire Police Serious Collision Investigation Unit to determine the cause of the collision. The crash was captured on a dash cam fitted to a witness’ vehicle and a reconstruction established the motorbike was in the sight of the driver for six to seven seconds and travelling at an average speed of 66mph prior to the collision.

RThe case had been adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and Remizovsky was said not to have driven since the crash.

Detective Sergeant Emma Ward, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Lincolnshire Police, said after the February hearing: “It’s impossible to reflect the loss of life with a conviction for careless driving.

“Mrs Remizivsky did not set out to harm anyone that day and has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. Her actions have led to the death of a 58-year-old man who was simply riding his motorbike home.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Stew today.”

Stewart or Stew, left behind his mum and dad, his wife, his two children, his stepson and many others who knew and loved him. In a tribute released by the family they said he was “larger than life, funny, smiling, and brave”. His death has left the whole family devastated.

Berni, his wife, said: “Our love was fierce, strong and beautiful. His laughter, smile and sense of humour were infectious; he made me feel like there was nothing we couldn’t achieve so long as we were together. Everyone felt it when they were in his company, he inspired people to want to be better versions of themselves, as he wanted for himself.

“Those in his life, have been robbed of the person they used to go to for advice, help with anything. He was generous with his love and his time. He would have done anything for his kids.”

Amy, Sam and Connor, his children, said: “The sudden loss of our father was something we could never have prepared for. The terrible events of last Easter Sunday will always be in our minds and memories. It is heart wrenching to know that our dad will not be here for the rest of our lives, and that he will miss so much which would have made him happy.

“He was a man who would light up any room, he showed and inspired confidence and everything was better if he was involved.”

His first ‘petrol head’ love was his motorbikes. He was an advanced motorcyclist and an accomplished rider. He had completed charity events all over the UK including with Bike Tours for the Wounded charity. He had taken wounded veterans to Normandy, he went to charity events and auctions, it was something really close to his heart. During the pandemic, he rode for the Bike Shed Charity, delivering PPE to nursing homes. It was important to him to use his skills as a rider to give something back to others. He travelled widely and had a wonderful bunch of friends who miss him dreadfully, say his family.

Stew was a keen rugby fan and had played for Castle Donington and Long Eaton teams. He did a few lads rugby tours in the 90s and he is sadly missed by these groups of friends too.

For years, Stew worked in the wide format print industry, beginning to hand down his wealth of knowledge to the next generation.

The love for Stew is echoed through the hundreds of messages received and posted on his LinkedIn, memorial and Facebook pages. He raised over £1,500 for the air ambulance on his death through the link on his memorial page.

His family say there are no words to describe the loss of Stew. They say he was “the light of our lives” and “brightened up every day and any room he walked in to. He was a gentleman, a romantic and a joker all in one”.

His wife Berni concludes: “If there’s one lesson that we’ve learned from this nightmare, it’s to live life to the full, like Stew did. And we hope that his unnecessary death will raise awareness to increase drivers’ awareness of bikers and cyclists on the road.”