Speeding driver guilty of killing two ‘twerking’ friends

A  woman is facing jail for killing two passengers who were filmed “twerking” in the back when her convertible car before it crashed.

On Tuesday, Adele Okojie-Aidonojie, 23, was convicted of causing the deaths of Rida Boutjettif, 24, and Mary Macharia, 23, by dangerous driving.

She was also found guilty of causing serious injury to another passenger by dangerous driving after an Old Bailey trial.

The defendant’s convertible Mini Cooper was going at least 62mph in a 30mph zone before it crashed in Battersea, south west London, early on July 16 2022.

Mr Boutjettif and Ms Macharia were not wearing seatbelts in the back and had been filmed dancing just before the incident. They were thrown out of the car and killed.

Ben Sidibe, who was the front seat passenger, suffered a fractured arm and a bleed to the brain.

Prosecutor Sally Mertens said the defendant had gone with Mr Sidibe and Ms Macharia to pick up their friend Mr Boutjettif from a nightclub where he was working.

Mr Sidibe told police that Jamaican music had been playing and he had taken a video of the two other passengers “twerking” in the back.

Just before the collision, CCTV showed the Mini travelling at 62mph before its wheels started to grind against the raised kerbstones on Latchmere Road and the car overturned.

The defendant told a witness at the scene: “Don’t call the police or ambulance. I’ll get arrested.”

She then claimed to a police officer the incident was a “hit and run”.

Ms Mertens told jurors: “The defendant asserts that she was not above the legal limit for alcohol in blood at the time of the collision because, in a panic after the collision, she drank from a bottle of alcohol that the passengers in her car had been drinking from.”

In her trial, the defendant accepted driving carelessly but claimed her hand had been tugged and had slipped off the driving wheel.

She was found guilty of the charges after a jury deliberated for one and a half hours.

Judge Richard Marks said it was “a very sad and tragic case” and adjourned sentencing until Friday.

The judge said a substantial period of imprisonment was inevitable and remanded the defendant, from Bromley, south London, in custody.