30-04-2025
Five years for driver who ran over and killed pensioner after inhaling laughing gas
A driver who inhaled laughing gas before he killed a frail pensioner as she crossed a road with her walking stick has been jailed for five years.
Washe Manyatelo was driving a Mercedes C220 at excessive speed when he struck Annette Dixon, 70, after she got off a bus in Edinburgh.
The 24-year-old - who fell asleep in a police car following the incident - later refused to provide a blood sample for testing claiming that it was against his religion, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.
The convicted drug trafficker admitted causing the death of his victim by driving dangerously on August 26 in 2023, when he appeared at court earlier this year.
He appeared at the same court to be sentenced yesterday where judge Lady Ross said: 'The night before, you had been at a party. You had not slept at all that night, or into the following day.
'You said that you would take some friends to their homes, and thought that you felt fine to drive, but that arrogant self-assessment of your condition was woefully wrong.
'This was a lady in her later years who was much loved by her family.
'I have read the victim impact statements, provided by her children, and they make it very clear that they were close to her and that she is missed terribly.
'The impact on them, and on other family members has been profound, and it continues.
'The sentence that I impose will not come close to matching their sorrow and their pain, and it cannot measure the value of Mrs Dixon's life. No sentence could do that.'
The court earlier heard how Manyatelo drove the car at excessive speed having inhaled nitrous oxide and failed to maintain proper observations.
He went into the opposing carriageway, mounted a pavement and grass verge and back onto the road where he struck the pensioner.
Officers found four deflated balloons in his car along with a nitrous oxide canister.
Manyatelo, who is currently serving a jail sentence for being concerned in the supply of cannabis, was found to have cocaine worth up to £1,400 on the streets, secreted on him internally after the crash.
It was discovered that the borrowed Mercedes he was driving would have failed an MOT because of the state of the tyres which would have affected steering and handling.
During a search of Manyatelo, of Edinburgh, officers found a further balloon, similar to those seen in his car, and discovered he had 18 grams of cocaine hidden internally in a plastic bag.
Lady Ross also banned Manyatelo from driving for eight years and 10 months.
