US officer sentenced for road death of couple
BBCA serving US Air Force officer who killed a couple in a road crash has been handed a suspended sentence.
Jasmine Dessaure, 37, of Linden Walk, Beck Row, Suffolk, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by careless driving at a previous hearing.
She had been driving on the B1106 near Brandon on 15 April 2023, when she swerved on to the wrong side of the road, Peterborough Crown Court heard on Friday.
She hit a vehicle driven by Dilipan Sebastiampillai, 43, and carrying passenger Dorota Sebastiampillai, 41, both from Haringey, London.
Judge Sean Enright sentenced Dessaure to 12 months, suspended for two years on both counts, to run concurrently.
Prosecutor Mark Tomassi said Dessaure had not been paying attention while driving her Jeep Cherokee and had a lapse of concentration of "just under two seconds" before noticing the "unevenness in the road surface" when approaching the edge.
She was then said to have made an "overcorrection" and swerved in to the opposite lane, hitting the Nissan Note containing the couple in a head-on collision.
The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
Tomassi said that the defendant had tried to help the couple exit their vehicle but was unable to, and the car had caught fire, Suffolk Police said.
The prosecutor told the court that the victims' family does not "bear any ill will" over the incident. He said there were "no winners, only losers" in the case and that the defendant had been "very remorseful".
Dessaure was also banned from driving for 18 months and must carry out 180 hours of unpaid work.
Det Con Kelly Dale, of the serious collision investigation unit, said: "This case is a stark reminder of the responsibility every driver has when they get behind the wheel. Even momentary loss of control can have devastating and irreversible consequences.
"I would also like to thank the members of the public and emergency services who did everything they could to help at the scene."
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