The fiance of an Ecuadorian politician’s daughter who was mowed down by a speeding Mercedes driver just weeks before their nuptials has given tribute.

Vanessa Charlotte Sagnay de la Bastida was holding hands with her fiance Michael Williams while crossing the road when a vehicle came at them at speed.

Octavian Cadar collided with the 27-year-old near Wandsworth Bridge,south west London, causing her to ‘somersault’ over a railing on March 16, 2022.

The couple dashed in different directions in a panic when Cadar drove towards them at more than double the 20mph speed limit.

Ms Sagnay – daughter of Ecuadorian politician Carlos Sagnay de la Bastida – was hit before she reached the pavement, causing her to somersault in the air and land on a railing.

She suffered a catastrophic head injury and died at the scene around 13 minutes later, despite the efforts of an off-duty doctor.
Cadar, 39, has been jailed for 10 years after a jury found him guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

Grieving fiance Mr Williams told the court: ‘She never got to hear what I wrote in my wedding vows. Instead I read them at her funeral.’

The court heard Cadar – who is Romanian and had lived in the UK for 20 years – had just left a McDonald’s restaurant on the way to see his girlfriend and was driving at 48mph in the 20mph zone.

Her relatives wept at Southwark Crown Court as Mr Williams said in an impact statement: ‘She was half of me. I am less of a person without her. Charlotte was an amazing friend.’

‘Friendship like that made it easy for me to be myself and my best self, and I know her friends felt the same.’

‘She never got to hear what I wrote in my wedding vows. Instead I read them at her funeral.

‘I have given up on having pleasant dreams. At least in my nightmares I am with Charlotte.’
But Ms Sagnay de la Bastida tried to turn around and return to the pavement when she was hit.

Cadar applied the brakes just a tenth of a second before the collision.

He denied causing death by dangerous driving but was convicted by a jury after just 42 minutes of deliberations.

Ms Sagnay de la Bastida’s mother Jeanne told the court: ‘My daughter was and will always be my life, my everything, my everyone.

‘I have become an empty vessel. I feel I have no skin. Everything hurts me. There is no peace, no relief, in the torture of what happened to her.

‘When my daughter was born instead of suffering from postnatal depression I experienced post-natal euphoria. I felt as though I was floating above the ground.

‘Her family have been devastated by this. Each one of them has struggled to function in the best way they can. She was deeply loved by everyone who knew her.’

Jeanne told the court that Charlotte was looking forward to her wedding.

(Armani)