A NURSE who drove away with a woman clinging to her car bonnet following a row over parking has been jailed for 12 months.
Ophelia Okai-Koi, 52, of Barnet, northwest London, argued with mum-of-two Christie McHugh, 33, who had been drinking with family in a nearby pub on July 4, 2013.
Harrow Crown Court heard how McHugh, who was with her husband and two children, left the Lord Kitchener pub in East Barnet Road to head to the car park.
As they tried to put their baby’s car seat into the back seat they were blocked because Okai-Koi’s Vauxhall Insignia was parked too close.
When Okai-Koi, who had been shopping in Sainsbury’s, returned to her car she was confronted by the angry couple.
The nurse told jurors she “feared for her life” and got into her car where she called 999.
As the argument escalated, witnesses reported that Mrs McHugh then climbed on the bonnet of Okai-Koi’s car with her hands and face on the windscreen “like a starfish”, eyewitnesses said.
A police operator, who reported hearing people banging and swearing, asked her to stay put at the scene until back-up arrived.
In a state of panic, Okai-Koi started to drive off at a speed of between 10-15 miles per hour.
Mrs McHugh was thrown from the car and hit her head on a metal post. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Judge Newbury, sentencing, said: “You were scared and under immense pressure in what had become a really hostile environment.
“Panicking [you drove forward]….and in driving forward and turning to the right Christie McHugh was thrown from your bonnet [hit her head] and then she died shortly afterwards at the scene.”
The judge said that one of things she had taken into consideration was Okai-Koi’s failure to stop.
She added: “You did not stop but continued down the road understanding that she [may have been] seriously or fatally injured.”
Speaking at the sentencing hearing, Okai-Koi’s barrister Daniel O’Malley said: “She has asked me to state in open court how profoundly sorry she is for the outcome of this matter.
“And if there’s anything that unites the people in this room [is the feeling of] if we could turn back the clock and make this go away. That’s certainly how the defendant feels and it’s had a profound impact and will do for a very long time indeed.”
Okai-Koi, a mental health nurse, has been suspended from her job without pay.
She has had to leave her home and rent it out as a source of income, the court heard.- Voice
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