Ice-dance star skates past jail

2008-01-30 20:09

Sofia - Maxim Staviski, the reigning world ice-dancing champion from Bulgaria, escaped a jail sentence on Wednesday after a deadly drunken driving incident last August threatened to ruin his career.

The prosecution ware demanding 2½ years behind bars for Staviski for ploughing into another car while more than twice over the limit, killing a man and leaving an 18-year old girl in a coma.

But, the regional court in Burgas, a city in southeastern Bulgaria near the site of the accident, decided to hand the two-time and reigning world ice dance champion a 2½-year suspended sentence.

This means Staviski, 30, will be on probation for five years, during which time he is liable to serve the sentence behind bars only if he commits another offence.

He also has to pay a total of 260 000 leva (about R1.5m) in damages to the families of the crash victims, the Burgas court ruled.

Girl still in coma

Russian-born Staviski lost control of his sports utility vehicle on August 5 last year, driving it head-on into another car.

The 23-year-old driver of the other car died in the crash while an 18-year-old girl with him was taken to hospital in critical condition and still remains in a coma.

The other two passengers, a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, had minor injuries.

A blood test showed Staviski had been drinking before the crash, his blood-alcohol level exceeding more than twice the legal limit.

Staviski, who won the world ice-dancing championships in 2006 and 2007 with his Bulgarian partner and fiancee Albena Denkova, took part in a campaign for responsible driving shortly before the accident.

- AFP