A drug dealer who admitted killing a bus driver and injuring seven others in a “catastrophic” collision has been sentenced to seven years and eight months in detention.
In June, 20-year-old Cera admitted causing death by dangerous driving, as well as seven counts of causing injury by dangerous driving, being unlicensed and uninsured and possession of an identity document with improper intent.
Grandfather Kenneth Matcham, 60, died at the scene after Cera’s car collided with two single-decker buses, having been “ejected” from the bus he was driving during the crash on Halloween last year.
Sentencing Cera, of Hillingdon, West London, Judge Wendy Joseph QC said his “excessive speed” and driving showed “a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road and an apparent disregard for the great danger being caused to others”.
Matcham’s daughter, Shelley Gardner, described her father as “the most amazing man you could have ever met” in a victim impact statement.
She said: “He was always my hero. I feel so privileged to have been part of his life.”
The impact caused the bus to hit a second single-decker travelling in the opposite direction on Sevenoaks Road in Orpington, South East London, leaving multiple passengers injured.
Prosecutor Nathan Rasiah said the case involved an “appalling piece of driving”, which had “catastrophic consequences”.
He said Cera, who had no insurance or licence at the time, drove his hired Skoda Octavia across a junction “at speed” and collided with Matcham’s bus.
That forced it into the wrong lane and made it crash into a bus travelling the other way down the road.
“Mr Kenneth Matcham, the driver of the first bus, was ejected from the vehicle as a result of the collision and died from his injuries, and a number of the passengers suffered serious injuries,” Rasiah told the Old Bailey.
Cera was also hit by the second bus, and “identified himself falsely” to officers when he regained consciousness, Rasiah said.
The court heard that despite testing positive for cocaine in a roadside test, his blood test, taken after, was negative.
Cera was on licence at the time of the crash, having been sentenced to two years in September 2018 for possession with intent to supply class A drugs, driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and without insurance, and possession of false identity documents, the court was told.
Paramjit Ahluwalia, mitigating, said Cera had post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive episodes and showed an “evident level of remorse”.
Cera, who came to the UK from Albania aged 15, had sought asylum unsuccessfully, the court was told.
He was banned from holding a driving licence for 11 years and four months.
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August 27, 2020 at 08:41PM
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