Woman's prison sentence increased following appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme

A prison sentence given to a woman who caused a collision which killed two people and seriously injured three others in 2022, has been increased under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Liberty Mitchell, aged 21 and of Chipping Norton, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and two counts of causing death by driving whilst uninsured.

At Gloucester Crown Court on Friday 13 February, she was initially sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment and disqualified from driving for eight years and four months upon her release from prison.

Following sentencing, the Crown Prosecution Service made a request for the Attorney General's Office to review the case under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

The Attorney General then referred the case to the Court of Appeal.

The appeal case was heard at the Court of Appeal in London yesterday (Tuesday 28 July) and Mitchell's prison sentence was increased to nine years and three months imprisonment after it was deemed that the original sentence given in February was unduly lenient.

The Court of Appeal also increased Mitchell's driving disqualification from eight years and four months to 11 years and two months.

Sergeant Williams from the Serious Collision Investigation Team said: "Liberty Mitchell's actions on Friday 2 December 2022 have had a long lasting impact on not only the families of those involved in the collision, but also the emergency service colleagues and members of the public who had to deal with the aftermath.

"I am pleased that the concerns which were raised about Mitchell's original sentence length were listened to and that her prison sentence has been increased.

"Nothing will bring back Octavian Codreanu and Moyra Whelan or reverse the life changing injuries that several others sustained during the collision but I hope their families feel that justice has now been served."

Police had been called to the B4425 at Riversmeet North near Aldsworth shortly after 12.45pm on Friday 2 December 2022 with a report of a serious collision which involved multiple vehicles.

The collision, which took place between the Coln St Aldwyns and Eastington turnings, involved a Mini Cooper being driven by Mitchell, an Audi A3, a Polestar 2 and a Seat Leon taxi.

Emergency services attended and the driver of the taxi, Octavian Codreanu, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

His passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, was taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for treatment and died later that day from her injuries.

Several other people were taken to hospital for treatment, and many are now living with a daily reminder of the collision after sustaining serious and life changing injuries.

Mitchell was arrested at the scene and later charged in connection with the collision.

Police investigations found that Mitchell had regularly been speeding and driving whilst using her mobile phone, despite passing her driving test less than three weeks before the collision happened.

An analysis of Mitchell’s social media found that she had been filming Snapchat videos whilst behind the wheel.

These videos showed Mitchell’s lack of care for driving safely, with one showing her driving at 100 miles per hour on a county road and another showing her veering onto the opposite side of the road towards an oncoming car as friends shouted for her to stop.

Liberty Mitchell custody image