Charles Dobney (51) was found guilty yesterday of killing Katie Shields (18) in April last year, when their vehicles collided on a straight road near Spalding.

It also emerged at Lincoln Crown Court he had been at the wheel when his wife Yvonne died in an accident in August 1993.

The 32-year-old lost her life when the Mercedes estate Dobney was driving plunged into the River Glen at Pinchbeck.

He managed to escape from the sinking vehicle.

Adjourning sentence for the more recent tragedy to a later date, Recorder Sam Mainds granted Dobney bail on condition he surrendered his passport. He warned him prison “almost inevitably follows in a case like this”.

Miss Shields died after her car was hit by a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Dobney as she waited to make a right turn off the A16 at Hop Pole, near Spalding, onto a track leading to her family home.

The sixth form pupil at The Deepings School died instantly from her injuries.

The court heard during the trial Dobney had been travelling at more than 70mph on the 50mph limit “arrow straight” road.

The prosecution said in the minutes before the crash, Dobney attracted the attention of other people because of his speed.

Tests later showed he was driving at a minimum of 70mph when the collision happened.

Motorist Mavis Taylor was overtaken by Dobney, of Park Lane, Surfleet, moments earlier after she had pulled out from a side road onto the A16.

Another witness was also passed by Dobney in a 30mph stretch of the same road close to a school.

The man was speeding himself, but was still overtaken.

Dobney, who did not give evidence at the trial, later told police he had hardly any memory of what happened in the moments before the impact.

After the hearing, Miss Shields’s parents, Kevin and Christine, said: “All we would like to say at the moment is that we are happy with the verdict.”