A former embassy official who fatally injured a cyclist in a hit-and-run crash and then attempted to cover her tracks by selling her car in parts on eBay was today sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Natela Grinina, 34, a Georgian national who is thought to be in Russia, was sentenced at London's Woolwich crown court.
The jury heard she embarked on a "long and involved" cover-up after hitting Thomas Sippel-Dau, a 54-year-old computer services manager, while behind the wheel of her Range Rover in South Kensington in March 2005.
Passing sentence, Judge Charles Byers said Grinina had known she may have killed someone but nevertheless "did not stop but pressed on to save her own skin".
Grinina, who left the Georgian embassy in 2003, fled to France after the crash, telling police she was in Russia visiting a sick relative. She then arranged for her distinctive blue Range Rover to be broken up and sold on eBay.
In a later interview, Grinina told police another man had borrowed her car on the night of the collision, a claim that proved to be a lie. The innocent man in question, George Gigeishvilli, was found dead in the river Thames in June 2005.
Sippel-Dau, who worked at Imperial College London, was thrown 30 metres through the air when Grinina's 4x4 hit him. His head was severely injured and he died shortly after.
Witnesses told the court the Range Rover had been seen travelling at up to 50 miles an hour and swerving from side to side as if being driven by somebody who was drunk.
Evidence left at the scene showed the vehicle was one of only 85 Atlantic blue Range Rovers manufactured to celebrate the millennium. After a televised Crimewatch appeal in June 2005, a car dealer in Leicester who bought and sold vehicles on the internet contacted police to say he had bought parts from a blue Range Rover. Police later linked the car to Grinina.
Grinina was sentenced to eight years for causing death by dangerous driving and two years for perverting the course of justice.
She was disqualified from driving for seven years and ordered to pay costs, the level of which will be determined at a later date.
Speaking after the hearing, friends and family of Mr Sippel-Dau said in a statement: "We are delighted with the outcome today.
"After all this time, it's a moving moment, and Thomas would have been proud of the job done by the prosecution team and the police."