A driver who posted Snapchat videos of herself speeding just weeks after getting her license now faces a much longer prison sentence after a horrific crash that killed two people.
Liberty Mitchell, 21, was originally handed six years and eight months behind bars in February for the December 2022 crash that claimed the lives of taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and passenger Moyra Whelan.
But under the UK’s Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the Attorney General referred the case to the Court of Appeal, and senior judges have now bumped her time up to nine years and three months, according to court documents.
Mitchell, who worked as a cleaner at the time, was driving her Mini Cooper at nearly 100 mph in a 60 mph zone when she tried to overtake three cars at once. She clipped one vehicle, sparking a deadly pileup.
The crash also left multiple people with life-changing injuries, including fractured hips, broken ribs, and shattered bones.
Prosecutors said Mitchell had filmed herself driving dangerously and shared it on social media before the incident, showing a reckless disregard for safety. She 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 while uninsured.
Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP said in a statement, “Her reckless actions behind the wheel claimed the lives of two people and left many others with life-changing injuries.”
The families of the victims shared heartbreaking statements in court. Moyra’s sister, Katy-Louise Whelan, said, “It’s like the light of the world is dimmed and we will never be able to turn it back on again.”
Passenger Nicola Cooper, who survived the crash, added, “I live with survivor’s guilt and the trauma of losing one of my closest friends.”
In court, Mitchell’s defense attorney argued her actions were due to “inexperience rather than irresponsibility,” noting she had only held her license for less than three weeks at the time of the crash.
But the judge was blunt, saying she suffered from a “teenage delusion that you were invulnerable and free to do as you wished,” adding that the lives of everyone involved were “irrevocably changed.”
What does it take for a young driver to truly understand the consequences of dangerously reckless behavior?
