Ramsgate crash: Man guilty of killing father and daughter

Noga Sella and her father Yoram Hirshfeld died when they were hit by a car in Ramsgate

A man has been found guilty of killing a father and daughter when his car mounted a pavement and hit them.

Yoram Hirshfeld, 81, and pregnant Noga Sella, 37, were among five people hit in Ramsgate, Kent, in August.

Nitesh Bissendary, 30, from Manston, was found guilty of causing the two deaths by dangerous driving at the end of a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

The crash also caused injuries to Ms Sella's husband, 40, and eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter.

Mr Hirshfeld and Ms Sella were walking on the pavement after a meal out when they were hit by a black Alfa Romeo being driven by Bissendary.

The prosecution said the fact the vehicle had mounted a kerb "showed that the defendant was not controlling his vehicle as a competent and careful driver should do".

Ms Sella, a Cambridge physicist, and Mr Hirshfeld, who had been a mathematics lecturer at Tel Aviv University in Israel, died at the scene.

Flowers and tributes were laid at the scene of the crash

Bissendary had admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving, but denied the dangerous driving charges.

Bissendary was also found guilty of two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He claimed he had had a momentary lapse in concentration in order to resolve a clutch issue.

But his judgment had been impaired due to his use of cocaine, and the crash was "entirely avoidable", the court heard.

Bissendary had earlier admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of failing to provide a specimen of blood, and possession of a class A drug with intent to supply.

He is due to be sentenced at a later date.

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