A drunk driver who tried to stop her dog crawling onto her lap killed a mother of three after she careered off the road.
Naomi Oxley, 35, was trying to secure the Shih Tzu dog when she careered off the road and smashed into a family of five on a busy high street as they were enjoying a day out.
The VW Beetle ploughed into mother-of-three Debbie Masters who was pinned to the front of a cafe wall.
Naomi Oxley, 35, pictured left and centre during an earlier hearing was today jailed for four years after she was found guilty to causing death by dangerous driving in Lewes Crown Court
Debbie Masters, 37, pictured, was killed after Oxley lost control of her car in Battle, east Sussex
Shocked onlookers sitting inside with tea and cake could see her trapped against the window by the car and rushed out to help.
Her husband Iain, 50 suffered horrific injuries in the collision and was rushed to hospital.
Miraculously one-year-old Buster, who was being pushed by his mother in a buggy, escaped serious injury along with two older children.
Today, the carer sobbed in the dock as was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.
Lewes Crown Court was told the collision took place on March 19 on the High Street in Battle, East Sussex.
Amy Packham, prosecuting, said Oxley had spent the previous evening drinking very heavily and said she had consumed around two and a half bottles of wine.
The following morning she awoke and drank more wine but then decided to get into her car and drive to see her brother.
She put her dog, a Shih Tzu, in the front seat as was her custom and left for her brother’s house.
Miss Packham said: ‘She had her dog on the front seat. It was her practice that she secured the dog by the collar and lead but had not done so on this occasion.’
The car ploughed through the front of the cafe, pictured, trapping Ms Masters against the wall
Ms Masters was walking with her husband Iain and three young children when she was struck
Luckily all three children escaped unharmed however her husband was badly injured
The court heard Oxley was almost twice the legal drink-drive limit at the time of the crash
Oxley wept through the sentencing hearing at Lewes Crown Court, pictured
Along the way she stopped off at a Tesco Express where she bought more wine and swigged it in her car.
The court heard that as she entered Battle in East Sussex, which was busy with day trippers and tourists, the dog tried to get into her lap
Miss Packham said: ‘The dog put its front paws on the handbrake. She attempted to push the dog back on the passenger seat. She swerved left and then over-corrected to the right and then hit the accelerator instead of the brake.’
As a result the black VW Beetle careered off the road and ploughed into the Masters’ family of five as they walked along the pavement.
Mr Masters was struck first and thrown into the air before the car then smashed into Mrs Masters, causing catastrophic injuries to her lower body and pinning her to the cafe frontage.
Miraculously her son, Buster, one, who she had been pushing in a buggy escaped with concussion while Kaden, 11, and Noah, seven escaped with minor scrapes.
Bystanders and tourists rushed to help in a chaotic scene as paramedics desperately tried to save her.
She was rushed to hospital where she died the following day while undergoing emergency surgery.
Experts later estimated her blood alcohol level would have been around 149mg per 100ml of blood – almost twice the 80mg legal limit.
Oxley, who wept throughout the sentencing hearing, also pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Daniel Frier, defending, said: ‘She is utterly devastated by the harm and misery she is responsible for. The reason she drank so excessively she had been contacted by her long-term partner and had finished the relationship.’
He said she spoke to her brother the following morning and decided she ‘needed to be with someone who loved her.’
Judge Charles Kemp said: ‘You drank excessively and then you drove through a busy tourist area, busy with ordinary pedestrians.
‘Your dog was not tethered as is normal and that dog crawled onto your lap and caused a distraction. We have only your account of that. Whatever the reason, your car left the carriageway and caused this appalling accident.’