Drunk driver who caused fatal traffic accident sentenced to 22 months

A 35-year-old driver, who was speeding while drunk and ran a red light, crashing into and killing a 62-year-old mother of two last month, has been sentenced to 22 months in jail, it emerged on Friday.

Limassol district court charged the man for causing death by negligence on Friday. The court also suspended his driving license for three months and imposed him a ten-point penalty. For failing to stop at a red light, the man received a €1,000 and €500 for the offences of drink driving and speeding respectively.

Upon hearing the sentence, the defendants’ lawyers, Antonis Antoniou and Maria Neophytou, expressed the possibility of an appeal against the conviction, claiming not all mitigating factors were taken into account, Philenews reported.

The fatal crash happened about two weeks before Christmas at around 1am, on December 7 on Limassol’s coastal road near Yermasoyia, when the 35-year-old’s vehicle with a 27-year-old female passenger was heading east on Georgiou Vassileos street.

At the junction of Panayiotis Tsangaris Street, the 35-year-old failed to stop at the red light, resulting in a violent collision with the vehicle of the 62-year-old woman, who was entering the coastal road heading west. The woman died at the scene, while the driver was unharmed and the female passenger slightly injured.

An initial alcotest indicated 58 μg of alcohol while a follow-up was 47μg. The legal limit is 22μg.