Chelsea crash: Man jailed for mowing down woman and her dogs

Olivia Riley was walking her two dogs called Lily and Maia and a Golden Retriever puppy called Darcy when they were hit

A drink and drug driver has been jailed for killing a woman and her three dogs in west London.

Laszlo Dancs crashed into Olivia Riley and her dogs while they were waiting on a pedestrian crossing on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea on 14 May last year.

Dancs, 28, was sentenced at the Old Bailey to six years and eight months for causing death by dangerous driving, drink driving, drug driving and failing to provide a breath sample.

He was also disqualified from driving.

Racing against other cars

During the trial the court heard Dancs, from Acton in west London, had been driving his Audi TT at three times the 20mph (32km/h) limit before he lost control of the vehicle.

Prosecuting, Suki Dhadda said Dancs was racing against two other cars before the crash - a BMW and a Mercedes - and was seen on CCTV accelerating away from traffic lights faster than the Mercedes and overtaking that vehicle before he hit Ms Riley.

Dashcam footage from an Uber driver's vehicle played to the court showed the Audi sliding across the carriageway and crashing into Ms Riley and the dogs at the pedestrian crossing, while a Mercedes was on the opposite side of the road.

Ms Riley, 41, from Suffolk, was killed at the scene while her three dogs - two Labradors and a Golden Retriever puppy - died later as a result of their injuries.

Ms Riley had been standing at a pedestrian crossing with her dogs when she was mown down

The court also heard from an off-duty police officer who heard the crash and saw a woman lying on the road with a traffic light pole on top of her.

The prosecution said the officer spoke to Dancs who kept repeating "the light was green" and tried to blame the Mercedes driver.

Ms Dhadda added the defendant's passenger told police they had both been drinking and had taken cocaine as it was Dancs's birthday that day.

Dancs, who worked as a team leader at a "well-known pizza restaurant" in north London, suffered minor injuries in the crash.

He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, drink driving and drug driving in an earlier hearing, but denied failing to provide a breath sample.

Laszlo Dancs was jailed for six years and eight months

The court was told after he was arrested and taken into custody he was found to be almost two-and-a-half times over the legal limit for alcohol and drugs.

The prosecution added two bottles of vodka and a small bag of cocaine were found in the Audi, along with a dashcam that contained no SD card.

Defending, Jeremy Dein KC said Dancs had experienced the break-up of a long-term relationship, had not intended to drink alcohol that evening and was planning to get a taxi home, but he went on to drink and take a line of cocaine.

Mr Dein added the 28-year-old had an "overwhelming sense of guilt" and was "heartbroken" about what happened.

Ms Riley was described in court as "the brightest light"

In a statement read to the court from Ms Riley's father Stephen Riley said his daughter was "the brightest light" and "remarkably loving and generous", as well as being "a mother figure" to her siblings when his wife died after a cancer diagnosis.

"I have lost someone who was a brightest light in my life for 41 years and who I will miss and mourn so deeply throughout my final years," the statement added.

In addition to the his jail term, Dancs's driving disqualification will be in effect for five years, after which he will have to take an extended retest.

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