Delivery driver spared jail over pedestrians' deaths

David Smith, 24, died alongside Claudia Kauert, 30, when they were hit by the driverless vehicle as it rolled down a slope in the City of London on April 24 last year.

Van driver Larkland May, of Hawthorn Road, London, was yesterday handed a 32-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid community work by a judge at Southwark Crown Court, in central London.

The 52-year-old was also disqualified from driving for three years and ordered to pay 700 in costs.

May, who delivers office stationery, had parked on a road with an incline of about 5 per cent – to drop off a parcel nearby before tragedy struck.

He had failed to apply the handbrake and when the driver of another vehicle unwittingly made contact with the van, it rolled away and struck the two pedestrians one after the other.