Bus Driver Who Killed Young Girl After Falling Asleep Behind the Wheel Learns His Fate Is Far From Over

A bus driver who killed a nine-year-old girl while high on cannabis and falling asleep at the wheel has had his sentence increased after an appeal labelled his original punishment far too lenient.

Martin Asolo-Ogugua, 24, was behind the wheel of a double-decker in Bexleyheath, south London, on the morning of 3 August last year when he fatally struck Ada Bicakci, reported the Independent. The young girl had been riding her bike along the pavement on her way to gymnastics class with her dad and brother. Tragically, she died two days later in hospital.

It was later revealed that Asolo-Ogugua had nearly three times the legal amount of cannabis in his system. He’d only just returned from a social event around 6.30am before starting his shift just two hours later at 8.45am. Working for Arriva, he left the Dartford depot that morning looking anything but fit to drive.

CCTV footage from the bus cab showed Asolo-Ogugua repeatedly yawning, looking visibly drowsy, and even closing his eyes for brief moments. Over the span of 13 minutes, other drivers noticed his bus swerving and moving unpredictably. Then, in a horrifying few seconds, he appears to have nodded off entirely — for up to 15 seconds — during which the bus veered off course and struck Ada.

He admitted to causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs and was originally sentenced to four years behind bars at Woolwich Crown Court in June. But on Wednesday, that sentence was reviewed at the Court of Appeal following a referral by the Solicitor General.

Three senior judges decided the original sentence simply wasn’t enough. Lord Justice Dingemans, Mr Justice Hilliard, and Sir Robin Spencer agreed to increase Asolo-Ogugua’s sentence to six years and eight months. On top of that, he’s now banned from driving for five years once he’s eventually released.

The judges didn’t hold back. Lord Justice Dingemans said Asolo-Ogugua had “disregarded the risk of danger to others for the period that he was driving” and should have known full well he was not in a fit state to be behind the wheel. “He must have appreciated that he was in no fit state to drive, but continued to drive,” the judge said.

In court, Peter Ratliff, arguing on behalf of the Solicitor General, said the driver’s attention was clearly lacking for a significant amount of time and that he was knowingly operating a bus without proper rest. Despite acknowledging that Asolo-Ogugua had shown remorse and tried to help Ada at the scene, Ratliff insisted the original sentence didn’t reflect the severity of what had happened.

Asolo-Ogugua, appearing via video link from HMP Isis, watched the proceedings while his mother sat quietly in the courtroom. His defence barrister Gregory Fishwick described the whole case as a “tragedy” and accepted that while the sentence may seem lenient, it wasn’t completely without reason. “He will never forget this. It was a tragedy, one that he will feel forever,” he said.

After the hearing, Solicitor General Lucy Rigby welcomed the court’s decision and expressed sympathy for the grieving family. “Martin Asolo-Ogugua’s selfishness needlessly took the life of a young girl, causing irreparable damage to a family,” she said.