Woman jailed over fatal car crash which killed a child
A woman has been jailed for 10 months over a crash which killed a four-year-old girl in Greater Manchester.
Eucharia Jakpa was driving a car which collided with a van, causing it to mount a kerb and hit Caitlan Fitzhugh and her mother in Openshaw in 2009.
Caitlan died a short time later and her mother, Stacey Strutt, broke her leg.
Learner driver Jakpa, 40, of Kenyon Street, Abbey Hey, admitted causing death by careless driving at Manchester Crown Court.
She was also disqualified from driving for five years after the crash, which happened on 11 September.
Jakpa was driving a Ford Focus on Greenside Street when she pulled out of the junction onto Parkhouse Street into traffic that had right-of-way.
She then collided with a Ford Transit van.
Jakpa was only a provisional licence holder at the time of the crash and police say she has never provided details for her supervising driver.
Two passengers who were in the car at the time ran off after the collision and have never been traced.
Sgt Jeff Hollick, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "Stacey may eventually recover from the physical injuries she suffered but there is no doubt the emotional scars left by the loss of her daughter will remain.
"Jakpa has never revealed to us whether she had a full licence holder guiding her and nor have the two passengers come forward of their own accord to explain their role, so Jakpa carries the full consequences of that collision on her shoulders."