A woman's been sentenced after her driving killed a baby
- 00:02:12
- ITN
A woman's been sentenced after her driving killed a baby
A woman driver has been jailed for seven years after she crushed a baby to death in front of his mother. Katie Gutierrez-Perez, 40, was drunk as she ploughed her speeding 4x4 off Cavendish Road in Chingford, east London, killing Finlay Woods as he waited in his pushchair outside Selwyn Primary School. Snaresbrook Crown Court in London heard that the mother-of-two was driving to hospital after a failed suicide attempt. Moments before the crash in September last year, a car tax inspector had tried to stop her driving the powerful vehicle. Jailing the former restaurateur, Judge Timothy King told Gutierrez-Perez she had devastated the boy's family, including his mother, 31-year-old Tina Woods. "Clearly, the offence is manifestly so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified," the judge said. "As far as the family are concerned, no sentence I impose today could be too long, and I have to balance the feelings of the family, the crime and my duty to the public in administrating justice. "You were aware of the school, you were aware of the presence of any children, and if you were not aware, then you most certainly should have been. "I have a statement from Tina Woods, the boy's mother, and it's a moving document. "It's a testament to the devastation that your behaviour has visited on this family, and I quote Mrs Woods' statement: 'I have constant reminders of Finlay's short life - his toys, clothes and cot, which is still made up from the morning on 18th September. "'It is difficult to come to terms with the loss of such a young life."'
ITN | January 7, 2009
