Drug addict to be sentenced for killing child actor and aunt in crash

A drug addict from a wealthy background will be sentenced later for mowing down a child actor and his aunt in a stolen car while being pursued by police.

Convicted car thief Joshua Dobby, 23, was out on licence when he ploughed into Makayah McDermott, 10, and Rosie Cooper, 34, as they walked along Lennard Road in Penge, south London.

On the afternoon of August 31 last year, Ms Cooper had been taking Makayah and other children to have ice creams and play on the swings.

Dobby was driving a black Ford Focus at three times the speed limit down one-way roads and jumped red lights before he lost control and crashed into the group.

He leapt out of the wreckage and fled on foot, leaving police officers to try desperately to save the victims.

The defendant had a cocktail of drugs in his system when he killed Makayah and Ms Cooper, including cocaine, heroin and morphine, sources revealed.

But the court heard that toxicology tests were unable to establish whether he was under the influence of drugs, only that he had used them previously.

The defendant had also spoken about drugs in a letter to his girlfriend, the court heard.

Dobby admitted causing death by dangerous driving and injuring Makayah's sister but only entered guilty pleas 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 August 26 last year on the A228 near Snodland in Kent.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC will sentence Dobby at the Old Bailey later.

He has warned Dobby faces a long prison sentence for the "grave" offences and commissioned a report on his potential dangerousness to take into consideration.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the circumstances of the crash on August 31 2016.