Liberty Mitchell, a 21-year-old driver from Chipping Norton, has had her prison sentence increased to nine years and three months after the Attorney General referred her case to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. She had been sentenced to six years and eight months in December 2025 for causing the deaths of two people in a crash near Aldsworth, Gloucestershire, in December 2022.
Fatal collision and Snapchat footage
Mitchell crashed her Mini Cooper into three other cars while attempting an overtake. Emergency services pronounced taxi driver Octavian Codreanu dead at the scene. His passenger, school teacher Moyra Whelan, was taken to Southmead Hospital in Bristol and died later that day from her injuries. Several other people sustained serious and life-changing injuries in the pile-up.
Police investigations revealed that Mitchell had passed her driving test less than three weeks before the collision. She had regularly been speeding and using her mobile phone while driving. An analysis of her social media showed she had filmed Snapchat videos while behind the wheel, including one showing her driving at 100mph on a 60mph road and another veering onto the wrong side of the road as friends shouted for her to stop.
Victim impact and Attorney General's statement
Nicola Cooper, a passenger in the taxi, said: “The crash itself was traumatic, the impact felt endless. I live with survivor’s guilt and the trauma of losing one of my closest friends, Moyra, who was sitting just inches from me.” Moyra Whelan’s younger sister, Katy-Louise Whelan, said in February after Mitchell was jailed: “She had so much left that she wanted to experience, but the opportunity was stolen from her and we are devastated.”
Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP said: “Liberty Mitchell’s reckless actions behind the wheel claimed the lives of two people and left many others with life-changing injuries. My deepest sympathies go to the loved ones of Octavian Codreanu and Moyra Whelan, and to all those whose lives have been devastated by this tragedy. The offender had previously filmed herself speeding and shared it on social media, showing disregard for the danger she posed to others. I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to increase her sentence, and I pay tribute to the emergency services who treated the injured at the scene.”
Additional details
Mitchell was a self-employed domestic cleaner driving between jobs at the time, and her insurance policy did not cover business use. She was disqualified from driving for eight years and four months and must take an extended driving test before regaining her licence.
