A man has avoided jail time after he lost control of his van and killed a 21-year-old student walking along the pavement.

Hatice Pelit was due to get married when the van driven by Gabor Csongradi veered off the road and fatally struck her in Edmonton on February 23, 2022.

Csongradi, 48, of St Ann’s Road in Harringay, admitted at the scene that he had been momentarily distracted by his GPS system in the seconds leading up to the crash.

Having pleaded guilty to causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving, he was sentenced today (October 9) at the Old Bailey.

The court heard that Csongradi was driving his white Citroen van, which he used for work supplying and servicing vending machines, along Sterling Way at around 9.15am on the morning of the crash.

The 48-year-old, who had previously served in the Hungarian army, had two mobile phones in cradles attached to his van at the time of the crash, but he denied touching either.

The court was told that Csongradi had momentarily taken his eyes from the road to check his route on the GPS, as he was not familiar with the area.

In this moment, his van mounted the kerb and collided with two pedestrians who were walking along the pavement.

One of these was Hatice, who was walking to university. She died from her injuries on March 3.

A 50-year-old man was also hurt when he ran into the road to avoid the van, but he has since recovered from his injuries.

In sentencing, Judge Nigel Lickley QC said that Hatice had her “whole life ahead of her” when she was fatally knocked down.

He also cited the “added stress” both the defendant and victim’s family had experienced as a result of the long period of time that had passed between the incident and sentencing.

Mitigating factors in the defendant’s favour included his lack of previous convictions and his willingness to plead guilty at the earliest possible opportunity.

Csongradi was ultimately given a jail term of 10 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He was also banned from driving for two years and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Hatice’s father said that as his firstborn she “changed my world”.

He added: “I cannot get her out of my mind for a moment and her absence is causing me indescribable pain.”

He described her as “exceptional” and said that she was “killed by a careless man”, leaving “all her dreams behind".