An Audi driver who was travelling at more than twice the speed limit while inhaling laughing gas before hitting and killing a music student has been jailed for more than 10 years.
Tiffany Treanor-Johnson, 27, was driving at 53mph in a 20mph zone when she struck cyclist Harry Webb in Hackney, east London, in September 2023. Her car mounted the pavement before colliding with another vehicle.
Treanor-Johnson then fled the scene, leaving Mr Webb, a passionate drummer and musician, seriously injured at the roadside, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
The 27-year-old London College of Contemporary Music (LCCM) student died in hospital several days later from severe brain trauma.
He was later awarded his master’s degree posthumously.
The court heard that Treanor-Johnson, of Bramshaw Road, Hackney, had been inhaling nitrous oxide, a class C drug, before the crash at the junction of Kenworthy Road and Hassett Road.
On Friday, Judge Rosa Dean sentenced Treanor-Johnson to 10 years and nine months in prison. She was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.
Treanor-Johnson appeared visibly upset in the dock as the sentence was delivered.
Tiffany Treanor-Johnson, 27, was travelling at 53mph in a 20mph zone when she struck cyclist Harry Webb, mounted the pavement and crashed into another car in Hackney, east London, in September 2023
Harry Webb, a 27-year-old student at the London College of Contemporary Music (LCCM), died in hospital days after suffering severe brain trauma
Harry Webb pictured with his parents, Mike and Pat
Mr Webb, described in court as an “intelligent and wonderfully caring” man, had been speaking to his father by phone when the crash happened. The collision left him with a “traumatic” head injury, the court heard.
Prosecutor Fiona Robertson said Mr Webb had moved into new accommodation earlier that day ahead of starting his second year at LCCM. He had called his father to thank him for his help.
She told the court: “The call suddenly went silent as Harry was struck and fatally injured on Kenworthy Road.
“A member of the public found Mr Webb’s mobile phone on the ground after the collision and was able to tell his father what had happened, instructing him to return to London.”
Mr Webb had been on his way to London Fields Lido for an evening swim.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Webb’s mother, Pat, said having him as a son was “the greatest honour” and that he made “a positive impression to everyone”.
She told the court: “My life ended on September 10, 2023, after receiving a call from the surgeon.
“We had just moved him into his new accommodation that day.”
She added: “How can someone smash into him and drive away?
‘Watching someone you love die is an image you’ll never forget.
‘I cannot bear waking up without him every day. We have no future left, each day is painful.’
Tiffany Treanor-Johnson was raising money for Cancer Research UK in 2023, the year she went on to crash into Mr Webb, pictured here with her grandmother
In a statement read by the prosecutor, Mr Webb’s father Mike said he felt ‘so helpless’ being ‘miles away’ when the collision happened.
He said: ‘The sound of the emergency sirens rushing to the scene will always haunt me.
‘We both miss Harry constantly.’
Mr Webb had a maths and philosophy degree from Bristol University and a master’s in philosophy from the University of Amsterdam.
Mr Webb’s friend George told the court: ‘Nothing could have prepared me for suddenly losing Harry.
‘He was the most fun, caring, intelligent and wonderfully caring person you could ever meet.
‘I will surely suffer from the loss of him for the rest of my life.’
Many friends of Mr Webb, along with family members, attended the hearing on Friday.
Treanor-Johnson wept in the dock as the statements were read.
Earlier in the hearing, the court was told Treanor-Johnson’s Audi subsequently hit a red Citroen.
Brenton Henry, who was driving the Citroen, said he ‘made eye contact’ with Treanor-Johnson and ‘pulled forward to stop her’ as she was continuing into Ballance Road, the court was told.
Mr Henry then got out of his car, walked to Treanor-Johnson’s vehicle and took her car keys to prevent her from leaving.
The court heard one of the two girls travelling in the back of Treanor-Johnson’s car removed a bag from the vehicle as she got out and left the scene.
The police then arrived and found Mr Webb lying on the floor, and arrested Treanor-Johnson.
Mike and Pat Webb, the parents of Harry Webb, stand outside Snaresbrook Crown Court, London
A so-called ghost bike, which is a painted bicycle placed as a memorial near a site where a cyclist has died, was installed at the junction where Mr Webb was hit, together with a picture of him
Police found fragments of balloons used to inhale laughing gas in the defendant’s car.
Mitigating, Stephanie Panchkowry said: ‘Ms Treanor-Johnson was clearly in a state of shock at the time of what had happened.
‘She has always put forward that she was not evading, deliberately, what had happened.’
The judge told Treanor-Johnson: ‘You are solely to blame for the collision.
‘I am sure that you were probably impaired due to taking balloons.
‘We must all hope that you truly are sorry.’
Treanor-Johnson had initially denied one count of causing death by dangerous driving before changing her plea to guilty in April this year.
In a statement outside court after the hearing, Mr Webb’s father said: ‘Nobody should be killed cycling within a 20mph area in London, it is totally unacceptable.
‘Harry has been devastatingly missed by Pat and myself, his family and the many friends that he had made in his far too short 27 years.’
He said: ‘The ripples caused by his death have been immense for so many people unable to come to terms with this senseless road crime.
‘It should be thought of as a privilege not a right to drive a motor vehicle and if anyone abuses this privilege and through their own actions seriously injure or kill another person, they should face a lifetime driving ban.
‘Road crime needs to be taken far more seriously in the UK and much more public information and enforcement is needed.’
Mr Webb’s mother said: ‘I’m glad she got what she got.
‘I thought she was gonna get less than what she actually got.’
A so-called ghost bike, which is a painted bicycle placed as a memorial near a site where a cyclist has died, was installed at the junction where Mr Webb was hit, together with a picture of him.
