A delivery driver who was on drugs when he knocked down and killed an 83-year-old woman in Old Street was jailed for four-and-a-half years on Tuesday.

The court heard how Jason Cronin, 45, was high on cocaine when he accidentally accelerated his lorry and ran over Parvin Bahramkhan, who was crossing the street, in City Road on September 18, 2017.

Cronin pleaded guilty, eventually, to causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs, and was sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on Tuesday.

Ellis Williams, a district crown prosecutor in CPS London North, said: “Jason Cronin drove into and killed Parvin Bahramkhan after she crossed the road in front of his stationary lorry.

“If he had looked around before setting off he would have seen Mrs Bahramkhan and she would still be alive.

“He denied his guilt all the way up to the first day of trial when he changed his plea and accepted he had committed the offence of causing death by careless driving when unfit through drugs.

“Before sentencing, the court heard statements from Mrs Bahramkhan’s family of the devastating impact of Cronin’s actions and we hope this conviction brings some sense of justice to them.”

The first hearing was on May 4 at Highbury Magistrates’ Court and Cronin pleaded not guilty until the first day of his trial, on January 2.

He has been disqualified from driving for seven years and three moths.