Bentley-driving dealer who blew £1,500 on champagne at cabaret bar earlier than killing schoolgirl, 12, when he ploughed into household’s automobile then fled scene with the assistance of his father is jailed for 12 years

A trader callously killed a 12-year-old girl in front of her family when he ploughed into their car in his Bentley after spending £1,500 on champagne and food at a cabaret bar.

Edward Tully drove through red lights in his black continental convertible and reached speeds of up to 60mph moments before he hit the girl and her family on August 20, 2022

The impact of the crash left the child not breathing and with unsurvivable injuries in the collision, with the girl tragically dying three days later in hospital surrounded by her heartbroken family.

In the aftermath of the crash, which also left the girl’s father seriously injured, her mother and brother were seen screaming for help from passers-by in the wreckage of their Vauxhall Astra.

Tully ‘cowardly’ fled the scene of the crash, walking back to his flat in Princess Park Manor, before calling his father who picked him up, something a judge labelled ‘shameful’.

The 30-year-old would hand himself into police the day after the crash and wept as he was jailed for 12 years at Southwark Crown Court today.

He was confronted in court by the girl’s family, who revealed their lives had been torn apart by her loss and that as a result they no longer celebrate Christmas, Diwali or New Year. 

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the girl’s mother said: ‘My daughter was my best friend, we were very close to each other.

‘I relive the incident. I get flashbacks of that night. I feel pain. I feel helpless.

‘This incident has caused devastation to a happy family.

‘This incident has taken everything away from us, everything.’

The father said: ‘Every morning I wake up and look at the photo of my daughter and I can’t believe that our little princess is not with us.’

‘We as a family are devastated. I believe no parent should ever bury their child.’

‘I have not been able to sleep without sleeping pills since the incident.’

‘We used to celebrate Christmas, Diwali and New Year. We hate that now.’

Judge John Lodge told Tully: ‘She was 12 at the time of her death.

‘Anyone who had the privilege of listening to the victim’s personal statements will have heard so much about a young girl so full of life, who had already given so much in her childhood and on the cusp of her teenage years had so much more to give.

‘The last evening they had together was a happy one. They had been out to dinner and were on their way home. They had planned to stop for an ice cream at McDonald’s.’

The court was told that Tully had been on a night out with his friends at the cabaret bar Proud Embankment on the Victoria Embankment on the night of the collisio.

At the bar Tully spent over £1,500 on four five course meals with Prosecco, as well as five bottles of Veuve Cliquot Rose champagne.

Just before the collision he was driving at between 56 and 60 miles per hour, double the speed limit.

Tully overtook a car in his black Bentley continental convertible, went straight through red lights and struck the red Vauxhall Astra that the girl’s mother was driving.

The Bentley then hit a post on a traffic island. A witness describes someone from the Bentley making a gesture as if to say ‘up yours’.

Tully then fled the scene, and walked back to his flat in Princess Park Manor.

He then called his father, who picked him up from his flat in his black Nissan Navara.

After police officers repeatedly attempted to contact Tully he handed himself in to Colindale police station on 21 August. The girl died on 23 August at the Royal London Hospital and her father was badly injured.

The judge said that Tully had been ‘impaired’ by alcohol, but added: ‘It is not known precisely how impaired by drink he was because he took the cowardly decision to flee the scene.

‘He hit the family at excessive speed. The attitude of the defendant was ‘I am not going to stay here, we must run right now’ and he did.

‘All the evidence points to significant consumption. The amount you spent speaks for itself, even in a group context.’

The judge said that those who had tried to help Tully after the crash should ‘hang their heads in shame.’

Tully said ‘I love you’ to his sobbing parents as he was jailed for 12 years and led from the dock.

Jocelyn Ledward, KC, prosecuting, earlier said: ‘CCTV and collision reconstruction shows that the Astra was struck to the rear offside from the right by the vehicle being driven by the defendant, a black convertible Bentley which approached northbound from the south, along Colney Hatch Lane.

‘As a result of the impact, the Astra spun clockwise 460 degrees across the junction, coming to rest in the southbound carriageway towards the north-east corner of the junction, and then rolling backwards at slow speed into the pedestrian barrier.

‘As it spun, both rear tyres mounted the raised pedestrian crossing in the centre of Colney Hatch Road on the north side of the junction.’

‘The girl was not conscious. She was not breathing and clearly very badly injured. Her mother and brother screamed for help, and members of the public including other drivers came to their assistance.

‘Whilst an ambulance was called, one of them used his tools to cut the girl’s seatbelt, removed her from the car and began CPR.’

‘Paramedics arrived, and she was resuscitated to the point her heart was re-started, but she remained unconscious and not breathing spontaneously. She was taken to the Royal London Hospital. Sadly, she had sustained brain and spinal injuries which were not survivable, as well as injuries to her lungs, liver, a fractured pelvis and two broken arms.

‘She was moved to paediatric intensive care, and she passed away in the early hours of 23 August 2022.

‘Her father was also extremely distressed and seriously injured.’

The prosecutor said a receipt from the club revealed Tully ‘spent something of the order of over £1500 in the club that night.’

The bill included four five-course meals with Prosecco and five bottles of Veuve Cliquot Rose champagne.

Referring to CCTV from Proud Embankment Ms Ledward added: ‘The defendant can be seen drinking regularly and repeatedly, over 20 times at least, from glasses which have been refilled from the bottles, including by himself, throughout the two hours.’

David Spens, KC, defending, said: ‘Mr Tully accepts full responsibility for her death.’

‘He is genuinely and profoundly sorry. While it may seem inadequate given the circumstances, he is profoundly sorry for the loss he brought to this family. He accepts that he deserves serious punishment.’

‘He left school at the age of 17. He built two successful businesses’, he added.

Tully, of England’s Lane, Camden admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He was jailed for 12 years and disqualified from driving for 13 years.