Victim had called for tougher sentences after half-sister killed by drug driver
ONE of the victims of the fatal car crash in Cardiff appeared in a Sky documentary that demanded tougher sentences for dangerous drivers after her half-sister was killed by a motorist high on cocaine.
Eve Smith, 21, was found dead by emergency services in the wreckage of a car in St Mellons in the early hours of yesterday morning.
In 2020, she featured alongside her stepfather Tony Borg and mother Emma for the TV show This is Our Family, documenting how they coped after the death of her half-sister Xana Doyle.
The 19-year-old aspiring beautician was killed in 2015 when a stolen car in which she was a passenger flipped over at 60 mph.
She died immediately when the car flew 10ft into the air and landed on its roof.
Driver Sakhawat Ali, then 23, was jailed for eight years after police found he had taken cocaine and cannabis, and was at twice the drink-driving limit.
At Cardiff Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle-taking and driving with excess alcohol.
Shabaz Ali, his 21-year-old cousin, was also jailed for seven years for his role in the tragedy.
The Sky documentary filmed the family for more than three years and explored the issue of dangerous driving in the aftermath of Ms Doyle’s death.
‘They killed her – at the end of the day it was the same result as being stabbed’
Camera crews followed Mr Borg, a boxing coach, and Mrs Borg, a nurse, as they brought together their 13 children while preparing to get married.
“We explored the grief, the feelings and how to continue living with feelings like that,” Mrs Borg told the BBC’S Breakfast shortly after the launch of the programme.
“Every moment is difficult but I’ve got a duty to her [Xana] to continue living and living well.”
In an interview with the Daily Express, Mr Borg called the killer’s sentence “crazy” and demanded the pair be convicted of manslaughter instead. He said: “They should have had 15 years. They killed her – at the end of the day, it was the same result as being stabbed.” In an emotional statement on Facebook yesterday afternoon, Ms Smith’s stepsister Sherridan Borg, who works at Royal Gwent Hospital, wrote: “I know you’re safe up with there with our beautiful sister Xana but I was never ready to let you go, my body is aching without you, please watch over me.”
It also emerged yesterday that the father of Rafel Jeanne, another of the victims killed in the crash, was Leon Jeanne, the former Cardiff City and QPR footballer.