'Lunatic' drink-driver jailed for 7 years

A "lunatic" drink-driver was jailed for seven years today for killing a young nurse in a car crash then fleeing.

Anthony Bowden "callously" ran off as Tracey Mulroy, 23, lay dying under the wheels of his unroadworthy car, and another victim lay seriously hurt in the gutter.

Bowden, 24, who had been drinking for 12 hours, had been tailgating a vehicle at speed, Southwark Crown Court heard. He tried to overtake but hit bollards.

The impact made the Volkswagen Golf spin in the air and threw back-seat passenger Ms Mulroy through a side window.

The dental nurse died in hospital from multiple injuries. Fellow passenger Steven Marchant suffered a fractured skull. But Bowden, a trainee carpenter from Islington, and two other passengers fled the scene.

He was arrested seven months after the crash, which happened in Islington in May last year.

The court heard there was evidence he had taken cannabis as well.

Sentencing him after he was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said of Bowden's driving: "Some might loosely describe it as lunatic."