A man accused of dangerous driving after the death of an Ecuadorian politician’s daughter wept in court as he admitted he had “wrongfully” tried to blame the victim after the incident.
Vanessa Sagnay de la Bastida, 27, was hit by the car as she crossed a road near Wandsworth Bridge in west London , while holding her fiance’s hand, the Old Bailey was told.
The incident happened on the evening of March 16 2022.
Motorist Octavian Cadar, 39, was allegedly driving the Mercedes at more than double the 20mph speed limit at the time of the collision, which caused Ms Sagnay to somersault in the air and land on a railing.
Ms Sagnay, who was known as Charlotte , suffered a head injury and died at the scene about 13 minutes later, despite the efforts of an off-duty doctor.
Cadar, of Bexley , south-east London, has admitted causing her death by careless driving but denied the more serious offence of causing death by dangerous driving.
I had tried to blame them but I was wrong
Octavian Cadar
The defendant initially claimed the man with Ms Sagnay had stopped on the road, waved his hands and was pulling her backwards and forwards.
He had also previously suggested that her fiance, Michael Williams , caused the collision and implied the couple had been “messing around in the road”.
When asked on Friday why he had chosen to blame Mr Williams for the incident during a police interview, he told the court: “I had tried to blame them but I was wrong.
“I was in shock during the interview. I said Mr Williams stopped and waved his hands about.”
Mr Williams had previously said the couple had been holding hands as they began to cross Bridgend Road, having checked it was clear at the pedestrian crossing.
He said they got halfway across the road when they heard a “loud revving” sound of a car accelerating and backfiring.
Prosecutor Amanda Hilton told the court the couple had panicked and dispersed in different directions.
Sitting in the witness box, a tearful Cadar accepted he was speeding but said he had been focused on avoiding the couple who were crossing the road.
He 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.”
Ms Hilton said Cadar had left a McDonald’s drive-through restaurant and was on his way to visit his girlfriend in Fulham after work, when the accident happened at about 10.06pm on Bridgend Road.
Witnesses described the “revving” sound of a speeding vehicle and the sound of a sports car accelerating through gears, jurors heard. Cadar said: “It’s a sports car. You can hear it from miles away even at 20.”
Ms Sagnay was seen by one witness to somersault in the air twice before there was a thud. She died at the scene at 10.19pm.
Ms Hilton said a forensic expert had concluded Cadar’s car had travelled at an average speed of 55mph from the McDonald’s drive-through to Bridgend Road.
She said he was doing 48mph just before impact in the 20mph zone.
If the defendant had been driving at 30mph, the couple would have been able to complete their crossing to the traffic island, jurors were told earlier this week.
During proceedings, the family of Ms Sagnay, including her mother, began to weep in court and avoided looking at Cadar as he entered the witness box.
The Old Bailey trial continues.
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