Banker, 29, who caused death of unborn baby with ‘impatient’ overtake before car crash is jailed for two years

A City banker has been jailed for two years after causing a pregnant lady to lose her unborn child when he ploughed into her car.

Leroy Margolis, 29, was trying to overtake a lorry when his car ricocheted off a traffic island and hit an oncoming car.

The “tragic misjudgement” meant pregnant nursery worker Louise Abbott, 28, who was in the passenger seat of the Volkswagen Polo hit by the “impatient and impetuous driver”, suffered serious injuries that also killed her unborn baby.

Margolis, a Lloyds chartered accountant from Wandsworth, London, was today handed a two year prison sentence after previously being found guilty of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

During the trial the court heard Margolis was driving his mother’s Volvo along the single carriageway A1307 Linton Bypass in Cambridgeshire on October 1, 2016 when he got stuck behind a lorry.

He overtook it, reaching 69mph on the 50mph road, but hit a traffic island, ricocheting into the car Louise Abbott was in, being driven by friend Michelle Sandford.

MOST POPULAR ON YAHOO UK

‘Totally disproportionate’: Tea lady forcibly removed by police at Yorkshire fracking protest
North Korea is developing missiles which ‘could reach the UK’
Boy, 12, suffers severed leg in horrific German theme park ‘toboggan ride’ accident
Brexit is going to cost the Government an extra £250million this year
British prisoners say conditions are so bad they are being ‘tortured’

During the trial witness Andrew Dixon – a former driving instructor – told the court Margolis’ driving was “suicidal”.

The crash left Ms Abbott, who was 25 weeks pregnant with her first child at the time, with pelvis trauma including a fracture to her baby’s skull which caused her to die.

During sentencing, the court heard Ms Abbott was weeks away from starting her maternity leave. She and her partner had moved into their first home together just two weeks before the crash and had decorated the nursery ahead of their daughter’s birth.

Prosecutor Azza Brown said Ms Abbott was left with twisted ovaries and a misaligned pelvis and had undergone surgery for arterial bleeds. She was left with bruising that was still visible a year after the crash.

She later found out she was pregnant again but struggled to enjoy it amid fears she could lose another child and had to give birth via C-Section because of her injuries.

Oliver Jarvis, defending, said the incident was “utterly out of character” for Margolis – who is a part-time carer for his sister – and other than the “most terrible nine seconds” surrounding the crash, he had been a “very positive member of society”.

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Cooper told the banker he had made a “tragic misjudgment” and the harm he had caused simply could not be put right.

He said no prison sentence could possibly match the pregnancy, but he had to send a “clear message” to all drivers and while Margolis’ remorse was clear, he could get no credit for a guilty plea.

He sentenced Margolis to two years in prison and banned him from driving.

(Top picture: SWNS)