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PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2026 9:29 pm 
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Young woman admits causing death of taxi driver and school teacher in Cotswolds crash

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... h-10740752

A young woman has admitted to causing the deaths of two people during a crash in the Cotswolds.

Liberty Mitchell, 21, pleaded guilty to 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 while uninsured at Gloucester Crown Court on Thursday, December 18.

Mitchell, from Chipping Norton, was postally charged with the offences following a crash on the B4425 at Riversmeet North on Friday, December 2, 2022.

Taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and his passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, died as a result of the collision.

Three other people were seriously injured.

Mitchell was arrested at the scene.

During the hearing last week, she was given an interim disqualification from driving and was bailed ahead of sentencing at Gloucester Crown Court, set for Friday, February 13.

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PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2026 9:34 pm 
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At a guess, 4 years.

And a 5-year ban from when she is released.

And she was only 18 at the time. :sad:

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2026 12:15 pm 
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Sussex wrote:
At a guess, 4 years.

And a 5-year ban from when she is released.

And she was only 18 at the time. :sad:



once they're on the road they believe they are invincible at that age

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:44 am 
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Sussex wrote:
At a guess, 4 years.

And a 5-year ban from when she is released.

Almost seven months in jail. And driving ban over eight years :-o

Liberty's certainly lost her liberty :-|

Anyway, this one's all over the press tonight, but this is the official police news release:


Woman sentenced after causing collision which killed two people and seriously injured three others

https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/n ... ee-others/

A woman has been jailed after pleading guilty to overtaking on the wrong side of the road and causing a collision which killed two people and seriously injured three others.

Liberty Mitchell, aged 21 and of Chipping Norton, appeared at Gloucester Crown Court earlier today (Friday 13 February) where she was sentenced to six years and eight months imprisonment.

As well as being jailed, Mitchell was disqualified from driving for eight years and four months, has to undertake an extended driving test to regain her licence and was ordered to pay a statuatory surcharge.

Mitchell was due to stand trial but instead pleaded guilty to 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 during a hearing on Thursday 18 December 2025.

The court heard how police had been called to the B4425 at Riversmeet North near Aldsworth shortly after 12.45pm on Friday 2 December 2022 with a report of a serious collision which involved multiple vehicles.

The collision, which took place between the Coln St Aldwyns and Eastington turnings, involved a Mini Cooper being driven by Mitchell, an Audi A3, a Polestar 2 and a Seat Leon taxi.

Emergency services attended and the driver of the taxi, Octavian Codreanu, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

His passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, was taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol for treatment and died later that day from her injuries.

Several other people were taken to hospital for treatment, and many are now living with a daily reminder of the collision after sustaining serious and life changing injuries.

Mitchell was arrested at the scene and later charged in connection with the collision.

Police investigations found that Mitchell had regularly been speeding and driving whilst using her mobile phone, despite passing her driving test less than three weeks before the collision happened.

An analysis of Mitchell’s social media found that she had been filming Snapchat videos whilst behind the wheel.

These videos showed Mitchell’s lack of care for driving safely, with one showing her driving at 100 miles per hour on a county road and another showing her veering onto the opposite side of the road towards an oncoming car as friends shouted for her to stop.

In mitigation Mitchell’s lawyer said her overtaking manoeuvre on the day was a momentary lapse of judgement by a young and inexperienced driver.

He went on to say that Mitchell was unable to appreciate the risks and dangers that were involved in the manoeuvre due to her lack of driving experience.

Sergeant Williams from the Serious Collision Investigation Team said: "This case was due to go to trial, and I’m pleased that Mitchell pleaded guilty and has now been sentenced.

"Her actions tragically killed taxi driver Octavian Codreanu and his passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, as well as seriously injuring three others.

"Friday 2 December 2022 is a day that will be ingrained in not only the minds of the families who lost a loved one, but also the numerous victims who have suffered horrendous injuries and who are still recovering today, as well as the large number of witnesses who stopped to help and whose lives have also been affected.

"Our thoughts remain with those who have suffered loss and injuries, and I’d like to thank the families of everyone involved in the collision for their patience and bravery during what has been a lengthy process."


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:45 am 
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This is a link to an official Gloucestershire Police 'compilation of footage', which show her SnapChat videos taken at the wheel, and an unusual video of her being arrested at the scene.

It's about 0.4GB, though, and I wasn't able to play it or download it. Don't know if it's a bandwidth thing (my hotspot via my phone is quite slow for stuff like that), or because my hard drive is very low in space :?

https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/S ... encing.mp4

(Edit - it was easy enough to download once I'd freed up some hard drive space, and if you've not got a good connection then it might be difficult to play without downloading because of the size of the file.)


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:48 am 
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Sussex wrote:
At a guess, 4 years.

And a 5-year ban from when she is released.

Glocs Police wrote:
As well as being jailed, Mitchell was disqualified from driving for eight years and four months, has to undertake an extended driving test to regain her licence and was ordered to pay a statuatory surcharge.

So does the disqualification always automatically start from when they're released, or can it be concurrent? :?


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 3:56 am 
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Most of the video is viewable at the top of this ITV News piece, and it's fairly fast loading, apart from the advert.

But I don't think that's the full Glocs Police video compilation. But probably more than enough for most :-|

https://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/20 ... iving-test


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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 8:43 pm 
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Quote:
Almost seven months in jail.

Six years and eight months.

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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2026 8:50 pm 
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Quote:
So does the disqualification always automatically start from when they're released, or can it be concurrent?

The ban began when the judge issued it.

But in effect, it is a 5-year ban from when she is released.

She got 6 years and 8 months. More than likely, she will be released halfway through that term on license, in 3 years and 4 months time.

Thus, although the ban starts today, it will be a five-year ban on her release.

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