A DRUNK-DRIVER who killed a man has been deported – but it took five months for the victim’s family to be told.

Njabulo Nyathi, 48, has been sent back to Zimbabwe after serving less than half of a five-year sentence for causing the death of 22-year-old Sam Matkin.

He was booted out of Britain under rules which mean foreign nationals are ejected if they are convicted of a crime and serve a sentence of a year or more.

Although the news was welcomed by Sam’s family, his mum Christine said they had only just found out Nyathi had left the country. The Victim Contact Service, part of Essex Probation Service, is meant to keep victims and families informed of developments in their case, such as the release date of defendants.

It was only when Mrs Matkin, from Corringham, contacted the Probation Service to find out Nyathi’s release date that she made the discovery.

Mrs Matkin, 58, said: “At first we all, I think, sighed with relief. He was due out in July, and I must admit it was playing on our minds. But once it sunk in, we got annoyed we were not kept aware of what was going on. Why were we not told?

“It also makes you cross that the Victim Contact Service, which you assume is looking after us, the victims, could not find out any information.”

Nyathi, a factory worker formerly of Rokescroft, Pitsea, had been on a three-hour drinking binge in Basildon town centre on December 16, 2006, when he got behind the wheel of his car.

He was more than three times the drink-drive limit and failed to spot no-entry signs as he joined the London-bound A13 between the Pitsea flyover and the Five Bells roundabout. Sam was driving in the correct direction when Nyathi’s Nissan X-Trail ploughed into his Ford Fiesta, killing him instantly. Nyathi, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving, was jailed for five years in March 2007.

Mrs Matkin added: “Nothing will bring Sam back, and we still have to live through every day of not having him here with us. But you would think at least we could be kept better advised as to what is happening to his killer.

“Why did they send him home before his sentence ended? What is 19 months when you have taken a young man’s life?”

Lynne McKay, spokeswoman for Essex Probation Service, insisted its Victim Contact Service also only found out about the deportation of Nyathi this month. She said: “Sam’s family has experienced a terrible tragedy, and to know the offender is no longer in the country is some small compensation for their loss. The same day Essex Probation was informed of this prisoner’s relase and deportation, a letter was written to the victim’s family to let them know.”

Mr McKay did not confirm why it had taken the prison authorities so long to inform probation of Nyathi’s release.