A driver who killed a 21-year-old woman in a head-on crash with an Uber after driving the wrong way down a major road is facing jail.
Ashley Loveday, 38, was behind the wheel of a stolen Peugeot Boxer van when the collision happened on the A13 in east London, early on November 25 last year.
Grace Payne, 21, who was a passenger in a Toyota Prius Uber, was killed in the collision, while the Uber driver, 59-year-old Sunder Ali was seriously injured.
At the Old Bailey on Wednesday, Loveday pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and aggravated vehicle taking.
He was released on bail by Judge Alexia Durran, but warned to expect a “custodial sentence of some length”.
Ms Payne was on her way home to Upminster from a work night out when she was killed in the head-on collision at 2.35am.
Horrific footage shows Loveday’s van speeding into oncoming traffic on the main road before smashing into Grace’s Toyota Prius in which she was sitting in the passenger seat.
Ms Payne had recently graduated from university and started work in HR at an architecture firm.
In the aftermath of the crash, her parents spoke of how they were “struggling to come to terms” with the fact that their daughter will never be coming home.
They said in a statement: “She made us proud in so many ways. She was caring, compassionate, bright, funny, bubbly - her friends always said that she had the ability to brighten up their day.
“She loved children, and although happily working in HR, she said her long-term goal was to retrain when she reached 30 and become a primary school teacher. When she helped her Dad and brother, Jack, coach the juniors at Brentwood Cricket Club, she was usually entrusted with the youngest age groups, supplying cuddles whenever necessary.”
They added: “She was a 21-year-old starting to live life to the full after the confinements of Covid.
“If Grace was out with a group of friends, it was always said she was the one looking after everyone else, making sure they would get home safely. Last week, she joined work colleagues on their regular Thursday night out. Tragically, she never made it home.”
Loveday was being pursued by a police car on the right side of the A13 carriageway when the crash happened.
Loveday, from Avondale Road, Canning Town, east London, is due to be sentenced on March 9.
