A drug user who ran down a 10-year-old boy and his aunt during a high-speed car chase with police through south London faces a potential life sentence after admitting manslaughter.
Joshua Dobby, 23, a convicted car thief of no fixed address, was out on licence when he hit Rosie Cooper, 34, and her nephew Makayah McDermott on 31 August last year. The victims had been walking along Lennard Road, Penge, on their way home from eating ice cream at a nearby playground.
Dobby was driving a black Ford Focus at three times the speed limit, through red lights and the wrong way down one-way roads, as he fled police. After losing control and smashing into the group, which also included three girls, he leapt from the wreckage and made off on foot as police gave first-aid to the victims.
The court heard that toxicology tests failed to establish whether he was under the influence of drugs, only that he had used cocaine, heroin and morphine previously. The defendant had also spoken about drugs in a letter to his girlfriend, the court heard.
Dobby appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from High Down prison in Surrey, wearing a black T-shirt and a string of beads. He had already admitted causing death by dangerous driving and injuring Makayah’s sister, but entered guilty pleas on Thursday to the more serious charges of manslaughter days before his trial was due to start.
He was also convicted of dangerous driving relating to an incident on 26 August last year – five days before the incident in which Makayah and Cooper were killed – on the A228 near Snodland in Kent.
As Makayah’s grandfather and other family members watched in court, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC told the defendant he faced a long prison sentence for his “grave offences”. He adjourned sentencing until 10 March after ordering a report on Dobby’s potential danger to society.
Death by dangerous driving carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison but, in an unusual move, the crown also brought manslaughter charges, meaning the judge has the discretion to impose a life sentence.
Hilliard said it was clear Dobby was driving dangerously on 26 August last year and again on the day of the fatal crash. “There is also an incident in 2010 that ended in a collision,” he said. “I understand he was on licence at the time of this offence and on the face of it he had a serious drug problem.”
In a statement, deputy chief crown prosecutor Malcolm McHaffie said: “We were not prepared to accept a plea to lesser charges but built a strong case which has left Joshua Dobby no alternative other than to plead guilty to manslaughter. We hope that the conviction today provides some small amount of comfort to the family.”
At the time of his death, Makayah, a child actor, was described as a “bright young star” by his agent, Sam Brown. The boy had recently auditioned for a role in a television series and had featured in a number of commercials.
Cooper, a hairdresser, was a “really nice girl”, said her neighbour Jackie Francis, who added that she often saw her with her nieces and nephews. “She was a typical young mother, always with the children, she was very fond of her children,” Francis said. “It’s just horrible. They were a close family, undoubtedly close.”
During Dobby’s last appearance at the Old Bailey, Robin Ghosh, defending, said: “He wishes it to be noted that he fully acknowledges the utterly incomprehensible pain and suffering caused to the families involved.”
