Millionaire’s son jailed for killing child actor in crash following police chase

The drug addict son of a millionaire has been jailed for 12 years for mowing down a child actor and his aunt in a stolen car to evade police.



Convicted car thief Joshua Dobby, 23, was out on licence when he ploughed into Makayah McDermott, 10, and Rosie Cooper, 34, as they walked along Lennard Road in
Penge, south London. He stepped over the badly maimed body of another young child to make good his escape. Dobby, who had 53
previous convictions dating back to the age of 13, admitted two counts of manslaughter
and injuring the girl in August last year.
As he was sentenced to 12 years with a
further three on extended licence, Makayah’s grieving grandfather accused Dobby of treating his family as ‘worthless’ and ‘expendable’. After the tragedy, Dobby admitted he was was coming down from smoking crack cocaineand heroin and swore never to take another drug again.
In a letter from jail, he told his girlfriend: ‘Two people have lost their lives cos of my selfish f****** actions and it all boils down to drugs. ‘It should have been me that lost my life but it wasn’t. I still have a life and I’m determined to do something with it for the sake of that child.’

He told her he had since ‘chucked it out’ and was now ‘clean as a whistle’, the Old Bailey heard.
Giving evidence in front the the victims’
family, Dobby said he was ‘reckless and
stupid’.
He said: ‘I understand I have caused a lot of
hurt and pain. I’m truly sorry for what I’ve
done.’ The young man said his life had been ‘out of control’ at the time and he was ‘sofa surfing’ with friends. He admitted being on his way to sell the stolen car for £300 to buy more drugs when he killed Ms Cooper and Makayah.

On the afternoon of August 31 last year, the
victims, accompanied by other children, were on their way to get ice creams and play on the swings.
Dobby was driving a black Ford Focus at
three times the speed limit down one-way
roads and jumped red lights before he lost
control and hit the group. He leapt out of the wrecked car and fled on
foot, leaving police officers to try desperately to save the victims.
After he was arrested, he said: ‘I was driving, I admit it. I should have stopped. ‘I don’t want to go back to jail, now I might have killed innocent people. I wish I just pulled over.’
The defendant had a cocktail of drugs in his
system when he killed Makayah and Ms
Cooper, including cocaine, heroin and
morphine.
Dobby admitted causing death by dangerous driving and injuring Makayah’s sister but only entered guilty pleas to the more serious charges of manslaughter days before his trial was due to start. Mitigating, Tyrone Smith QC said Dobby had a ‘fractured upbringing’ with time in care and a ‘principal family member’ also an addict.
He asked Dobby: ‘Do you think you would
have committed these offences if you had not been in the grip of drug
addiction?’ The defendant, who
admitted never owning a driving licence, replied: ‘No. It was down to drugs that I committed the crimes to fund my habit.’
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the
circumstances of the crash on August 31
2016.
Makayah’s father Omar McDermott described feeling ‘bitter, vile, hollow, defeated and cold’ and as if he had let his son down, even though he was not there when he was killed.
He told how Makayah was a ‘dapper’ little
boy who was brave, strong and kind. He was to be the ring bearer at his parents’
upcoming wedding before he was killed.
Mr McDermott said: ‘My
home has become a prison of memory I wish I did not have. A prison
with no freedom in sight.’
On Dobby, he said: ‘I
have no hate or love for this young person, only regret.
‘I only hope this young man gets the
necessary help to become a better person.’
Makayah’s mother Danielle Cooper said her
heart was broken at losing her ‘handsome
little joker’.
He was intelligent, skilful and a talented actor who had dreams of playing football for Chelsea, she said.
‘I spend most days crying. I’m empty inside.
My heart is broken.’ The young girl who was maimed in the crash recalled how Dobby stepped over her injured body to get away.
In a victim impact statement, the keen
cheerleader said: ‘An ugly man’s foot
stepped over me and then ran.
‘I constantly cry. My legs are a constant
reminder this stupid, ugly man has destroyed my life.’