A drunk driver fled the scene of a crash that killed his seven-month-old baby, a court has heard.
Emmanuel Sakyi, 31, was driving on Bletcham Way in Milton Keynes on the evening of 4 December 2022 when his grey Peugeot 508 collided head-on with a green Fiat 500 driven by Shannon Willison. His daughter Emmanuela, who was sitting on her mother’s lap in the passenger seat with a seatbelt across her stomach, suffered fatal blunt force abdominal trauma and died in hospital in the early hours of the following morning.
Aylesbury Crown Court was told that Sakyi drove “for a considerable distance on the wrong side of the road” and failed to respond to Ms Willison, who was flashing her lights and sounding her horn to warn him of the danger. “Instead he carried on straight and despite the other driver’s best effort to avoid a collision, he drove into that Fiat 500,” prosecutor Daren Samat said.
After the impact, three people got out of the Peugeot – two women and Sakyi. Ms Willison said the male “vanished” from the scene. Mr Samat told the jury that Sakyi “wasn’t going to stick around for the police”, although he may not have known at that stage how gravely ill his daughter was. Authorities later arrived to find the infant suffering life-threatening injuries. The Fiat 500 driver sustained a broken leg, and a 30-year-old female passenger in the Peugeot suffered minor injuries.
Charges and legal proceedings
Sakyi is charged with causing death by dangerous driving and an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving whilst unfit through drink. He denies both counts. He was previously charged in June 2023 with driving while above the prescribed alcohol limit and failing to stop after an accident.
Another individual, 32-year-old Ruth Oppong from Coventry, has also been charged in connection with the incident. She faces allegations of aiding and abetting causing death by dangerous driving and of neglecting or causing unnecessary suffering or injury to a child or young person.
Prosecution evidence: intoxication and driving actions
The prosecution built its case around Sakyi’s alcohol consumption and dangerous driving. A drink-driving procedure was carried out after his arrest, which came when he arrived home in the early hours of 5 December. At Milton Keynes General Hospital, Sakyi allegedly told a medical professional that the crash happened “because the other car was on the wrong side of the road”. When later questioned about what he had consumed since the collision, he said he had had no alcohol and had eaten a McDonald’s.
A sample was taken to calculate his alcohol level at the time of the crash, and it was estimated that he was driving while twice the legal limit – “significantly above” it, according to the prosecutor. During a subsequent police interview under caution, Sakyi declined to answer any questions.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, Ms Willison said that when she saw the Peugeot approaching on the wrong side of the road, “it was too close to do anything”. She told the jury she beeped her horn for a couple of seconds and then “swerved to the right to get away from the car into what should have been their side of the road”.
Previous conviction
Court records show that Sakyi has a prior criminal conviction. In September 2013, then aged 25, he was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for firearm offences, including possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition, and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was linked at that time to a vehicle used by gang members.
Sakyi did not attend court for the opening of his trial, which continues.
