A city worker whose 'suicidal' driving caused an horrific road crash in which a young woman lost her first, unborn child, was jailed on Wednesday.

Leroy Margolis, a 29-year-old accountant for Lloyds, was given a two year jail term after being convicted of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

His Volvo V40 car travelled at speeds of nearly 70mph before smashing into the side of a VW Polo carrying Louise Abbott, 28, a jury heard.

The nursery assistant was 25 weeks pregnant and about to start her maternity leave, it was told.

Mrs Abbott suffered serious internal injuries and was forced to give birth to her daughter Layla who died from a fractured skull naturally the following day, a court was told.

Mrs Abbott attended court and wept as Mr Margolis was sentenced and said it should serve as a warning to other drivers.

After the hearing, she described her unborn child as her "guardian angel" who doctors had said had saved her from suffering fatal injuries.

And she also revealed how she had recently gave birth to a healthy baby girl despite being warned by doctor that her injuries meant she may never have another child.

Ms Abbott, from Braintree, Essex, said: "I felt a real mix of emotions.

"It felt strange that I had survived the accident but Layla had not made it.

"I was told by a couple of doctors that had I not been pregnant, I would not have survived.

"Nothing can ever bring Layla back but it seems to me that maybe she was there to save me and that she was my guardian angel.

"I would also like my story to be a lesson to those who engage in dangerous driving.

"It is an example of the devastation it can cause people unlucky enough to be victims of it."

Halstead Gazette:

Speaking about the events which followed the crash, she added: "The rest of the day was a bit of a blur.

"I delivered Layla the next day at 8.40am naturally.

"I remember that her head and shoulders came out before a midwife could get to me.

"Because of my pelvic injuries a caesarean section could not be performed.

"They didn't want to risk increased bleeding, I therefore had no option but to deliver Layla naturally.

"After delivery I did not want to see Layla at first.

"I was worried about her condition because I had been told that the head injury had killed her."

Halstead Gazette:

During the trial at Cambridge Crown Court the jury heard how Mrs Abbott had decorated a nursery in the home she shared with husband Laurence just before the crash.

Prosecutor told the court that doctors had also told Mrs Abbott that she may never had children because of one of her ovaries 'had been rendered useless' in the crash.

However she gave birth to a healthy daughter Avery by C-section last month.

She added: "She added: "A few months after the accident, I found out I was pregnant again with a second child and I have just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, Avery.

"I found it very difficult to come to terms with the pregnancy at first. I was so scared that another crash might take another one of my children.

"Laurence and I spent many nights crying and hoping that the anxiety would ease, which thankfully it eventually did.

"We have always been clear that our newborn daughter would not be a replacement for Layla, who will always be a part of our family."

Halstead Gazette:

Her husband Laurence said the couple could now move on and look to the future.

He added: "We are devastated that Layla isn't here to meet her baby sister Avery - as it should be.

"Avery will however grow up knowing all about her wonderful big sister.

"We couldn't be happier with the safe arrival of our beautiful baby girl Avery.

"Avery is the most perfect little human, of course we do have the bias that only parents can have.

"After everything that we have been through this past year, the birth of Avery and now the guilty verdict means we can finally move forward and look towards the future."

During a five-week trial the jury was told how the crash happened at around 7.55pm on October 1, 2016, on an unlit stretch of the A1307 Linton Bypass in Cambridgeshire.

Mrs Abbott was a front-passenger seat being driven to a wedding party by her colleague Michelle Samford.

Margolis, who was travelling in the opposite direction, broke the 50mph speed limit as he sped up to 69mph to overtake a lorry in his mother's Volvo V40.

Witness Andrew Dixon, a former driving instructor, told jurors Margolis' driving was "suicidal".

He said: "It was suicidal driving as far as I was concerned, all I remember thinking is, there's no way he's gonna make it and if there's a car coming the other way, this is not gonna be good.

"There's no lighting on that stretch of the road, it was dark, the conditions were atrocious."

Prosecutor Edward Renvoize described Margolis' driving as "impatient and impetuous".

He said: "Were Mr Margolis driving carefully and competently, he would not have failed to see the lights of the oncoming vehicle.

"This was an extremely ill-advised manoeuvre, which would have been obvious to a careful and competent motorist."

Oliver Jarvis, for Margolis, said he was of "unblemished character" and that he did what anyone would have done because "people don't want to be stuck behind the lorry."

He added: "The defendant is painfully sorry for the injury that he caused Mrs Abbott.

"He accepts that it's his fault and he makes no bones about it."

Margolis, from Wandsworth, London, was also banned from driving for three years upon his release from jail.

Sentencing him, Judge Cooper said: "The impact upon her has been very considerable indeed.

"As she has said, there's not one day she doesn't contemplate the loss of the life, imagining how her baby's life would have been like if it didn't occur."