Motorcyclist who mowed down tourist in front of her sons is jailed

A SPEEDING motorcyclist who mowed down and killed a French tourist in front of her two teenage sons has been jailed for 32 months.

Jack Gough, 28, was riding home when he struck 45-yearold Muriel Sanna in Great Dover Street, in Borough, south London, on the evening of July 23, 2018.

Ms Sanna, from Nice in France, had been crossing the road to look at a street map when she was hit by Gough’s Suzuki in front of her sons, aged 16 and 18.

She was carried down the road by the bike before hitting a parked car. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Before the crash, Gough had been doing 60mph – twice the 30mph speed limit – followed by a Harley-Davidson rider, who had not been traced. The defendant, who lives with his parents in Welling, London, admitted causing death by dangerous driving but denied that he had been racing with the Harley-Davidson.

The son of a retired teacher father and clinical psychologist mother told the Old Bailey: “I was simply on my way home. I truly had no idea that Harley was there until I was questioned.”

He became emotional as he recalled the crash, saying: “I braked, I tried to honk and I tried to swerve but it was simply too late. I could not stop in time.”

Sentencing, Judge Richard Marks QC said the trauma suffered by Ms Sanna’s sons and her friends from witnessing the crash was “simply unimaginable”.

On why Gough had been speeding, he told him: “It seems to me you had likely decided, perhaps because you were late, that you were going to put your foot down.” The defendant appeared tearful as he was sent down.