Hit-run driver high on drugs killed OAP, 73
GP son tried in vain to save her life
A SHOP assistant high on cannabis as she sped home from a drug deal in a stolen car knocked down and killed a pensioner crossing the road.
Hivda Altuntop, 21, raced away after ploughing into 73-year-old Penelope Coggan but later crashed and was arrested.
Mrs Coggan’s GP son Michael, who worked in a nearby surgery, raced outside to perform CPR on his mother but was unable to save her.
Altuntop denied causing death by dangerous driving by reason of insanity, arguing she was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
But she was convicted of five offences relating to the incident at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday following a trial.
Afterwards, Mrs Coggan’s widower Richard said she was ‘a delightful person and mother, always happy, selfless, engaging, thoughtful and practical’. He added: ‘Penny was a very special lady, so missed by us all and our friends.’
Altuntop took her mother’s Vauxhall Astra without permission on April 24 last year and, along with a kitchen knife, drove from Dovercourt in Essex to Colchester to buy cannabis, the court heard.
She had overtaken a car and was driving at up to 38mph on a 30mph road when she hit retired midwife Mrs Coggan without braking, sending her flying 20 yards into the air.
The defendant carried on driving for half a mile with a smashed windscreen, reaching up to 50mph, but crashed into a ditch.
She told a witness to ‘F*** off’ when they approached to help.
Prosecutor Carolyn Gardiner said: ‘Mrs Coggan’s son ran out of the surgery and performed CPR but there was nothing that could be done to save her life.
‘She died from the catastrophic injuries she sustained at the scene.’
A string of motorists had seen Altuntop driving dangerously on both legs of her journey.
A police officer saw the defendant forcing vehicles to swerve aside but lost sight of her as he turned his marked vehicle around.
In hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries, Altuntop laughed uncontrollably and said she was hungry. Later at a police station, a test revealed she had marijuana in her system. She admitted smoking a joint.
Three psychiatrists gave evidence during the trial – two for the defence and one for the prosecution.
All agreed Altuntop had undiagnosed schizophrenia at the time.
But the prosecution expert said that did not mean she was unaware of the consequences and gravity of her actions.
Altuntop showed no emotion as she was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, possessing cannabis and having an article with a blade or points.
She was also found guilty of aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, assaulting a police officer and having a bladed article in an incident the month before hitting Mrs Coggan.
On that occasion she again took her mother’s car without consent and drove it dangerously in Colchester and London, at one point crashing into a van.
Altuntop will be sentenced next month.
‘A very special lady, missed by us all’