Drug-driving bus driver jailed for killing nine-year-old cyclist
A bus driver who killed a nine-year-old girl riding her bike on the pavement having fallen asleep at the wheel with drugs in his system has been jailed for four years.Ada Bicakci died in hospital in August last year, two days after the collision in Bexleyheath, south-east London, which left her with "catastrophic injuries".Martin Asolo-Ogugua, 23, was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, having pleaded guilty in April to causing Ada's death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs.Asolo-Ogugua, of Southwark, south-east London, failed a drug test at the scene, having taken cannabis the night before.
CCTV showed Asolo-Ogugua driving the bus with Ada on a footpath before he defendant fell asleep.The bus drifted across the carriageway and into the path of the girl and her family.Ada's father, Bora Bicakci, said his world was "fractured beyond repair"."This tragedy happened on my watch, a father's ultimate failure. My world has been turned upside down, and with it, the foundations of my family have crumbled."My darling Ada. Our thanks are not enough to show our gratitude for you. We will honour your name with acts of magnitude. You will never be forgotten."Senior Crown Prosecutor Miranda Jollie called Asolo-Ogugua "reckless and utterly selfish".Ada, a Turkish-British national, lived in Bexleyheath with her family and was a keen gymnast and swimmer.She attended a local primary school where she was described as a "popular and happy pupil".Her organs were donated and she went on to help six other people after her death, her family said previously.Asolo-Ogugua was also disqualified from driving for seven years.
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