Loppi driver jailed for three years after fatal crash

A man has been sentenced to three years in prison after a crash in Loppi killed a passenger, Yle reports. The Kanta-Häme District Court found Petri Antero Mutka guilty of aggravated negligent homicide and 13 other offences.

Mutka was driving under the influence, without a valid driving licence and at excessive speed when his van left the road on Herajoentie in July. The woman riding in the van died of her injuries five days later. The court found the offence aggravated when considered as a whole.

According to the prosecutor, Mutka was travelling at least 100 kilometres per hour in a 50 km/h zone. His van crossed the oncoming lane and entered a field, where it travelled about 50 metres before hitting structures at a junction and being thrown across the road. The van became airborne and landed on its right side. Mutka’s blood alcohol level was measured at 0.76 per mille.

The 14 offences included aggravated drunk driving, property damage and aggravated endangerment of traffic safety. Mutka had also driven without a licence several times. In another incident, he drove a motorcycle while intoxicated and left the road; his passenger was injured.

Mutka, 55, denied being the van’s driver during the pre-trial investigation but admitted all the charges in court. He had previously received prison sentences for similar offences. The court considered those convictions an aggravating factor, while his admission of the offences was mitigating; it found that the factors cancelled each other out.

Mutka was also stripped of his military rank and ordered to pay more than 8,000 euros in compensation to a relative of the woman who died. He has been in custody since the summer. The verdict is not final.