Grandmother, 58, who killed a pair of friends when she dozed off at the wheel, pressed the accelerator rather than the brake and hit them after they got of a bus faces jail

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A grandmother who killed two female pedestrians when she dozed for a second and then pressed the accelerator rather than the brake pedal, is facing a jail sentence.

Teresa Sant, 58, was convicted by a jury of causing death by dangerous driving of the two friends, Victoria Hodge, 42 and Marie-Helene Gieblen, 60 following the incident in May 2016. 

Sant had only bought the car four days earlier when she mounted a pavement and struck the two friends who had just stepped off a bus in Plymouth.

Teresa Sant, pictured, was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving at Plymouth Crown Court after she admitted 'dozing off for a second' and hitting two friends at a bus stop

Sant told police after the crash: 'I tried to brake and slipped off the brake on to the accelerator'

She told police she must have dozed for a moment as she driving her four year old grandson who was strapped in the back of the vehicle.

And she told police that she had dozed off before at the wheel - once on a trip with her husband to Cornwall, and other times when waiting at traffic lights.

Plymouth Crown Court heard she was seen to 'panic' by a cyclist whose bike she clipped after she mounted the kerb and struck the two colleagues who had just got off the bus.

One victim died at the scene and the other died from severe head injuries in hospital six days later without regaining consciousness.

The jury heard Sant has admitted two charges of causing death by careless driving.

But she denied two charges of causing death by dangerous driving in the incident last May.

Prosecutor Jason Beal had told the jury that her new Ford B Max car crossed from her lane on the 30mph road in Plymouth, Devon, into the opposite lane and mounted the kerb and pavement.

He said she drove along the pavement for 'some metres' adding: 'As she did so she ran over two women who were standing on the pavement having got off the bus. Both of those women died from injuries sustained from being run over by Mrs Sant.'

He said there was no dispute that she caused their deaths but the issue was whether her driving was 'far below' that expected by a competent and careful driver.

The incident happened by a bus stop in the 30mph Torr Lane in Plymouth last May.

Sant, 58, of Fort Austin Avenue, Plymouth, was driving her grandson along the road which has traffic calming measures in the form of speed bumps and mini roundabouts.

Mountain bike rider Keiran Harris was riding on the pavement when Sant's car mounted it and clipped his handle bar, forcing him to jump clear.

He had heard her car revving and 'looked up and saw the car coming towards him'.

Mr Beal said: 'He made eye contact with her and saw panic in her eyes.' After clipping him, she ran down the two pedestrians and then rejoined the road before coming to a halt.

Victoria Hodge, 42 and Marie-Helene Gieblen, 60 died after the Ford B-Max driven by Sant mounted the kerb and struck the two friends who had just stepped off a bus 

Mr Beal said: 'The car carried along the pavement and hit both Miss Giebelen and Miss Hodge, crushing one against a wall and one against the pavement.

The car was on the pavement and went around the bus and pulled back on to the road on the other side of the bus.'

Police quizzed her at the scene and Sant who said: 'I think I dozed. I heard a bang. I think I just panicked.

'I tried to brake and slipped off the brake on to the accelerator. I only had the car since Sunday.'

Marks at the scene showed where the car had mounted the pavement at the bus stop but there were no marks showing braking or sharp steering, said Mr Beal.

Later that night she was quizzed by police again and repeated she must have dozed off at the wheel.

She told police: 'I did not feel tired.'

She also revealed that she had dozed at the wheel before on a trip to Cornwall with her husband when her car 'veered off to one side' and sometimes when she was stopped at traffic lights she 'dozed off for a second or so'.

But she had not told her GP or DVLA about these episodes.

In August she was interviewed again but told police she had no recollection of events leading up to the collision.

Mr Beal told the jury of nine women and three men that 'we cannot say with any certainty why she lost control' adding there was no medical explanation from Sant.

She wiped away tears as she told the jury of her devastation at what she had done but claimed to have no memory of what happened.

Sant will be sentenced tomorrow.