Teenager who killed woman in Abbey Wood hit-and-run sentenced

Michael Philbert claimed gang members threatened him into stealing the black 4x4 which he ran over Brenda Croke with in June last year.

The 18-year-old, who was 17 at the time, fled on foot leaving the pedestrian trapped under the wheels of the car as she died from abdominal injuries and a cardiac arrest.

Ms Croke was helping her wheelchair-bound partner to cross Finchdale Road when Philbert - who was unlicensed and uninsured - lost control of the car at the roundabout in Eynsham Drive.

Brenda Croke, 64, died after being hit by Philbert in a stolen 4x4.

During sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Richard Bendall said a witness saw Philbert overtake another vehicle at speed before approaching the mini roundabout.

He said: "He [Philbert] appears to have lost control and driven across the path of another vehicle in the next road, mounted the pavement, collided with a lamppost, knocking it over, and then crashed into a fence.

"He'd taken with him Brenda Croke who ended up trapped face down under the front right wheel of the car.

"He then made no attempt to reverse off her but made off."

Philbert's DNA was found in the Range Rover which was stolen from its owner the day before the crash.

After being arrested on June 28 last year Philbert initially denied any involvement in the crash and created an alibi which he maintained until he pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving on August 5.

In mitigation, James Hasslacher argued the amount of Philbert's careless driving should be restricted to the 100 yards or less between the roundabout and the collision.

The scene of the crash.

Judge Ruth Downing said: "I think the first instance of bad driving is he is driving in a stolen car with considerable power. He shouldn't have been in the car in the first place."

She refuted the defence's claims that Philbert's actions were "a little bit more than a momentary lapse of control".

They also disagreed over whether Philbert's driving constituted joyriding.

Mr Hasslacher said that although Philbert is not a gang member himself, he was "extremely vulnerable" to people in the area who exploited him to undertake criminal tasks.

He told the court: "He [Philbert] was driving this car under the direction of a member of a gang who told him to take the car otherwise his family would be threatened."

Philbert, who came to the UK from Venezuela aged 13, claimed the gang members threatened to put a brick through his father's window.

He also denied any involvement with weapons, after the pre-sentencing report mentioned an incident in which his brother was stabbed and his best friend was murdered.

The report, which was prepared with the help of youth offending teams in Greenwich, linked Philbert to organised criminal gangs and the travelling community in Abbey Wood, which his counsel denied.

Jailed: Michael Philbert, 18.

Mr Hasslacher said: "There are gangs who will pick up vulnerable people to do their tasks for them under duress, without being members of the gang. That is what Mr Philbert says he was.

"He reiterates that he's sorry and he's not the bad man that this report makes him out to be."

Judge Downing said Philbert is a man "who having stepped over the body of the woman he just killed" denied any involvement and maintained his alibi until the morning of his trial.

Sentencing him to 18 months in a young offender institution, half of which he must serve before being considered for release, she said: "You were a danger to others on the road that day because you could not drive that car properly and you couldn't control it because it so happens that you are somebody who has barely ever driven a car before.

"Frankly I don't believe for one moment that the threat of a brick through the window of your father, with whom you do not live...is sufficient to change you from a young man who's never been inside a stolen car to one who's prepared to drive it as you did on that particular day."

Philbert, of Constable Mews, was disqualified from driving for three years and given a victim surcharge of £120.