A speeding Mercedes driver who knocked down and killed an Ecuadorian politician’s daughter as she crossed the road with her fiancé has been jailed for 10 years.
Octavian Cadar, 39, was driving at speeds of up to 48mph in a 20mph zone in the moments before he hit Charlotte Sagnay de la Bastida near to Wandsworth Bridge in west London.
Cadar was shouting angrily after the crash as Ms de la Bastida, 28, lay dying on her pavement, as he attempted to blame her and her fiancé Michael Williams for the crash.
He was convicted at trial of causing death by dangerous driving, and at Southwark crown court on Thursday he was jailed for 10 years.
“The speed at which you were travelling meant you couldn’t stop before the pedestrian crossing”, said Judge Anuja Dhir KC.
“Had you been observing the speed limit, you would’ve been able to stop before you reached the crossing.”
The judge said Ms de la Bastida was an “exceptional” woman who “had her whole life ahead of her”.
She added that statements from family and friends showed the “wonderful human being that Charlotte was”.
Ms de la Bastida studied psychology at the University of St Andrews and had a master's degree from King's College London.
She and Mr Williams were making plans for their wedding when she died, he told the court, and held back tears as he recalled them practicing their first dance in the kitchen.
In a powerful victim impact statement, he said he ended up reading his wedding vows at Ms de la Bastida’s funeral, and he now struggles with suicidal thoughts.
“She had a magical ability to support people in just the way they needed”, he said. “The world is immeasurably worse off without her.”
He called the tragedy preventable, and said: “No one should have the power to kill just to drive faster.”
He added: “Octavian Cadar valued speeding in a sports car more than he valued our lives.”
Ms de la Bastida’s mother, Jeanne, paid tribute to her daughter, a clinical psychologist on the cusp of studying for a doctorate, and said familyand friends have been left “devastated”.
“I have become an empty vessel, I feel I have no skin and everything hurts me”, she said.
“I feel as if an atomic bomb exploded, blowing the world apart and what remains is toxic air I can barely breathe.”
Ms de la Bastida, who was part of the cheerleading team when she studied at St Andrews, is the daughter of Ecuadorian politician Carlos Sagnay de la Bastida.
She and Mr Williams were walking hand-in-hand towards their home after a session at the gym when the crash happened, at around 10.06pm on March 16, 2022.
Cadar, from Bexley, southeast London, was on his way to visit his girlfriend and had just left a McDonald’s drive-thru prior to the crash.
As the speeding car approached, Mr Williams dashed to the central reservation while Ms de la Bastida attempted to retreat to the pavement.
He recalled at the trial that they had checked the coast was clear before starting to cross Bridgend Road, before they heard a “loud revving sound of a car accelerating and backfiring”.
“The car was coming toward me startlingly fast. I think it was in the centre lane”, he said.
“At first I froze. I was so confused. And then I took a couple of steps forward to get towards the central reservation.”
Ms de la Bastida was struck by the Cadar’s BMW, sending her somersaulting through the air and landing on a railing, suffering a catastrophic head injury.
Mr Williams broke down as he described the moment he realised that his fiancee was not with him, saying: “I was not holding her hand anymore.”
An off-duty doctor made efforts to save her life, but she was declared dead around 13 minutes after being struck by the car.
Cadar, a father-of-one, accused the couple of “messing around in the road” before the crash, but he later accepted that was not true.
Mr Williams described Cadar as “shouting” and “angry”, and having said at the time: “Why did you freeze? Why didn’t you keep walking?”
Mr Williams added that he had to stop Cadar from moving Ms de la Bastida as she lay mortally wounded on the ground.
In his evidence, Cadar said: “As I was approaching the pedestrian crossing, I saw (the couple). I was focusing on the green light. They stopped crossing and I turned to the left to try to avoid them.
“I thought the best decision was to avoid them rather than slamming on the brakes.”
An expert found Cadar’s car had been travelling at an average speed of 55mph prior to the crash, and he was travelling at between 43 and 48 mph in the moments before hitting Ms de la Bastida.
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 the next 10-years-and-eight months, and must pass an advanced test to regain his driving licence.
She also said he will serve up to two-thirds of the 10-year prison term in custody.
