Speeding motorcyclist jailed for death of pedestrian at London Bridge

38-year-old Perry Hackshaw from Lewisham had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at a previous hearing at Woolwich Crown Court.

On Friday at Woolwich Crown Court he was also disqualified from driving for four years and will be required to sit an extended driving test.

During the morning rush hour on Thursday 2 June 2011, Hackshaw was riding his Suzuki motorbike when he hit with 47-year-old Marina Catovsky as she crossed Borough High Street close to the southern end of London Bridge.

Ms Catovsky was walking from the west side to the east side of the carriageway and had nearly made it to the central reservation when she was struck by Hackshaw who was travelling towards London Bridge having just overtaken a bus at excessive speed.

Ms Catovsky suffered serious injuries as a result of the collision and was taken to hospital by air ambulance. She died in hospital the following day.

Perry Hackshaw was also taken to hospital where he was treated for an injury to his shoulder and discharged.

An investigation into the circumstances of the collision was launched by detectives from the Metropolitan Police Road Death Investigation Unit.

Specialist collision investigators went to the scene where they recovered evidence which included CCTV that captured the entire incident.

A number of witnesses to the collision were interviewed and many of them gave evidence in relation to the speed at which the motorbike was travelling.

One woman who was also crossing the same stretch of road described how she jumped out of the motorcycle's way, sounding its horn as it drove at pedestrians crossing the road including Ms Catovsky.

Various evidence including road markings supports collision investigators belief that Mr Hackshaw was travelling in the region of 46 mph immediately prior to the impact.

Mr Hackshaw was arrested on 22 June 2011 and later charged with causing Ms Catovsky's death by dangerous driving.

"Perry Hackshaw was speeding on the day he collided with Ms Catovsky and caused her death," says Detective Sergeant Mick Woollard.

"The manner of his driving was dangerous and in a split second decision he chose to overtake a bus and not slow down even when faced with pedestrians crossing the road. His driving not only killed Ms Catovsky but he has ruined his own life.

"Ms Catovsky was a leading light in her profession and she was also the beloved only daughter of her parents who understandably are devastated by her loss. I hope that today's sentence goes a small way to helping them with the grief."

Ms Catovsky was born in Argentina and came to London at the age of four.

After graduating from Oxford University where her tutors included Baroness Warnock, she worked as a psychotherapist before retraining as a lawyer in 2002. She was called to the bar in 2003.