A 28-year-old bride died in a horror crash after a speeding driver hit her as she walked with her fiancé.
Vanessa Sagnay de la Bastida, also known as Charlotte, holds hands with her fiancé Michael Williams as they walk home near Wandsworth Bridge in London on March 16, 2022.
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Octavian Cadar, 39, drove towards them at around 50mph, more than double the 20mph speed limit, causing the terrified couple to become separated as they fled.
Charlotte was struck before reaching the sidewalk, causing her to somersault in the air and land on a railing and a signpost.
She suffered a catastrophic head injury and died at the scene.
Cadar screamed angrily after the crash as the 28-year-old lay dying on the pavement, a court heard.
He was convicted at trial of causing death by dangerous driving and on Thursday at Southwark Crown Court he was jailed for 10 years.
Michael told the court he and Charlotte were making wedding plans when she died and he fought back tears as he remembered them practicing their first dance in the kitchen.
In a powerful victim impact statement, Michael broke down as he revealed he ended up reading his wedding vows at Charlotte’s funeral and now struggles with suicidal thoughts.
Michael said: “What was my worst nightmare is now my reality. At least in my nightmares I’m with Charlotte again.
“My life with Charlotte was wonderful, she was the best friend I ever had.
“How could I explain who Charlotte was, what she meant to me and everything that was lost when she was killed?
“She was half of me. I’m less of a person without it.
“Charlotte never heard what I wrote in my wedding vows. Instead, I read them at her funeral.”
He added: “She had a magical ability to support people in exactly the way they needed.
“The world is immeasurably worse off without her.”
He considered the tragedy avoidable and said: “No one should have to power kill just to drive faster.
“Octavian Cadar valued speed in a sports car more than our lives.”
Charlotte studied psychology at the University of St Andrews and completed a master’s degree at King’s College London.
She was also the daughter of Ecuadorian politician Carlos Sagnay de la Bastida.
‘EMPTY SHIP’
Her mother, Jeanne, paid tribute to her daughter, a clinical psychologist about to do her PhD, and said her family and friends were “devastated”.
“I became an empty container, I feel like I have no skin and everything hurts,” she said.
Of her pain and loss, she said she felt as if an atomic bomb had gone off, leaving her struggling to breathe the “toxic air.”
Charlotte and Michael were walking hand in hand towards their home after a session at the gym when the accident happened, around 10:06 pm on March 16, 2022.
Cadar, from Bexley, south-east London, was on his way to visit his girlfriend and had just left a McDonald’s drive-thru before the accident.
As the speeding car approached, Michael ran into the center reservation while Charlotte tried to retreat onto the sidewalk.
He recalled at the trial that they checked the coast was clear before they started to cross Bridgend Road, before hearing a “loud sound of a car accelerating and backfiring”.
“The car was coming towards me surprisingly quickly. I think it was in the center lane,” she said.
“At first I froze. I was so confused. And then I took some steps advance to reach the central reserve.
Michael broke down as he described the moment he realized his fiancee wasn’t with him, saying: “I wasn’t holding her hand anymore.”
Charlotte never heard what I wrote in my wedding vows. Instead, I read them at her funeral.”
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An off-duty doctor made efforts to save her life, but she was pronounced dead about 13 minutes after being hit by the car.
Dad-of-one Cadar accused the couple of “playing in the road” before the crash but later accepted this was not true.
Michael described Cadar as “screaming” and “angry”, and said at the time: “Why did you freeze? Why didn’t you keep walking?”
The court heard Cadar has a previous conviction for speeding from 2018, when he was fined and given six penalty points on his licence.
Judge Dhir banned him from driving on Thursday for next 10 years and eight months, and must pass an advanced test to regain his driver’s license.
She also said he will serve up to two-thirds of his 10-year prison sentence in custody.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
