An HGV lorry driver – whose “catastrophic” mistake ended in the death of a much-loved Hythe dad – today pleaded to go to prison.

Religious Velichko Petkov, 42, told a judge that he wanted to atone for his mistake.

He said that each night he prayed for his family, and for the family of victim Kerry Hearn.

Father-of-three Mr Hearn, 53, from Frampton Road, died from his injuries after being trapped inside his vehicle after the crash in November last year.

Bulgarian Petkov – a lorry driver with a 20-year unblemished record – admitted driving dangerously on the A20 and causing the death of the popular folk singer.

He later told police: “I admit I was on the wrong side of the road but the situation is, I can’t exactly describe it.

“I am totally wrong. How can I describe it? I never thought that I would make such a big mistake to drive right towards another vehicle and I know that I am wrong.”

Prosecutor Martin Yale told Canterbury Crown Court how Petkov was returning to Europe after delivering in Lincolnshire.

As he left the airport cafe along the single carriage road he drove on the wrong side of the road and collided with the oncoming car.

“That day Mr Hearn was travelling to his place of work as a machine shop supervisor for Nusteel in Sellinge.

“Petkov was intending to travel to Folkestone to catch a train and had stayed the night near the cafe.

“That morning he woke up, checked his vehicle and left the cafe shortly after 6am and joined the A20.”

The prosecutor said that the lorry driver had swerved to try to avoid a collision with Mr Hearn’s vehicle, which was on the correct side of the road.

"His family’s grief and anguish is powerful and his loss is devastating to them but no sentence that I can pass nor anything I can say can assuage that anguish..." - Judge Adele Williams

Mr Hearn was trapped in his vehicle and was able to speak with a passer-by but died from his injuries 90 minutes later.

Alex Jamieson, defending, told the judge: “The defendant wishes to offer his sincere and unconditional apologies.

“Mr Petkov is a good man and this weighs very heavily upon him.

“He is a man of religious belief and each day as he sits in custody he says a prayer for his own family and for Mr Hearn’s family.

“He put himself in the wrong carriageway and for that he must atone. He did everything he could to avoid the collision once he saw Mr Hearn’s vehicle.

“He does not asked for any suspended sentence. He does feel that undertaking a period in custody there would be some measure of atonement. He doesn’t ask for anything other than custody.”

Jailing him for a year, Judge Adele Williams told Petrov: “Mr Hearn was a loving and much-loved person. He was a man full of life and enjoying life to the full.

“His family’s grief and anguish is powerful and his loss is devastating to them but no sentence that I can pass nor anything I can say can assuage that anguish.”

The judge also banned Petrov from driving for four years and ordered he take a re-test before he drives in the UK again.

She added: “No sentence could put a value on Mr Hearn’s life and any sentence will seem inadequate to his family and too harsh to you.

“And I remind myself that you did not set out that day to kill anyone but what you did was a brief but dangerous manoeuvre.”

Mr Hearn was a keen singer of folk songs and sea shanties and had toured Germany, France and Belgium with his band Quidnunc.

His daughter, Natasha said after the hearing: “He was the best dad anyone could ever have wanted and was so loved by his family, including partner, Amanda, children, Natasha, Frankie and Stephen, his sister Beverly and his four grandchildren.

“We all miss him so much. They really broke the mould when they made him."

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