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  "path": "/2026/02/13/speeding-driver-killed-two-people-weeks-passing-test-jailed-26883876/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-13T19:43:17.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "UK",
    "Crime News",
    "Gloucestershire",
    "News Updates",
    "Breaking News",
    "school",
    "work",
    "**check our news page**",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source"
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  "textContent": "Liberty Mitchell, 21, who has been sentenced to six years in prison after killing two people in a car crash less than a month after passing her driving test (Picture: Gloucestershire Constabulary/PA)\n\n**A new driver who killed two people in a crash less than a month after passing her test has been jailed for six years.**\n\nLiberty Mitchell had not long turned 18 when she caused the deaths of taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and his passenger Moyra Whelan in December 2022.\n\nMitchell, of Chipping Norton, was travelling at 96mph in a 60mph zone seconds before she hit Mr Codreanu’s taxi on the B4425 near Aldsworth in Gloucestershire.\n\nNow 21, she sobbed openly in the dock at Gloucester Crown Court as she was sent to prison.\n\nMitchell was working as a cleaner at the time and had been travelling between holiday cottages in the area in order to clean them.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News **alerts the moment it happens.\n\nShe had swung her Mini Cooper out to try and overtake three other vehicles at once, before aborting the manoeuvre and hitting the taxi.\n\nMr Codreanu and his passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, who was on her way to a wedding, died in the collision.\n\nMitchell was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and two counts of causing death by driving whilst uninsured, due to her car insurance not including use of the vehicle for work purposes.\n\nShe pleaded guilty to all charges.\n\nSchool teacher Moyra Whelan, who was fatally killed in a car accident (Picture: Family Handout/PA)\n\nThe court heard injuries suffered by those in the crash included a fractured hip, broken ribs, severe abdominal wounds and shattered bones protruding through the skin.\n\nNicola Cooper, one of the passengers in the taxi, said: ‘The crash itself was traumatic, the impact felt endless.\n\n‘I live with survivor’s guilt and the trauma of losing one of my closest friends, Moyra, who was sitting just inches from me.\n\n‘I lie awake at night thinking about the “what ifs”.’\n\nKaty-Louise Whelan, Moyra Whelan’s younger sister, said: ‘She had so much left that she wanted to experience… but the opportunity was stolen from her and we are devastated.\n\n‘I’m still absolutely incredulous that she is not with us any more.\n\n‘It’s like the light of the world is dimmed and we will never be able to turn it back on again.\n\n‘One aspect that haunts me is that my sister died violently… I’m truly devastated that my beautiful, innocent sister was subjected to that.’\n\nLiberty Mitchell admitted driving dangerously and causing the deaths of taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and his passenger Moyra Whelan (Picture: Gloucestershire Constabulary/PA)\n\nSimon Stirling, defending, suggested Mitchell’s actions were a result of ‘inexperience rather than irresponsibility’.\n\nHe said Mitchell had only recently passed her driving test and would not have understood the risk of the manoeuvre she was attempting.\n\nJudge Lowe said: ‘At the time of this collision, you had held a full driving licence for less than three weeks.\n\n‘You were, at the time, a reckless and immature young driver suffering from the, frankly common, teenage delusion that you were invulnerable and free to do as you wished.\n\n‘The lives of all the victims and their families have been irrevocably changed.’\n\nMitchell was sentenced to six years and eight months in jail and must serve half of this term in custody before being eligible for release on licence.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,****check our news page**.\n\nComment now Comments  Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source ",
  "title": "Speeding driver who killed two people weeks after passing her test is jailed"
}