The woman found guilty of dangerous driving in a deadly crash at the south London Costco has been given a suspended sentence.
Ruth Burger, 66, was found guilty in June of four counts of dangerous driving - two counts of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
On Tuesday, Burger was given three years of probation, had her driver's licence suspended for five years and was ordered to complete 240 hours of community service.
Six-year-old Addison Hall died in the July 2014 crash. Her then-pregnant mother, 26-year-old Danah McKinnon-Bozek and her sister, three-year-old Miah Bozek were both seriously injured.
Newborn Rhiannon Bozek was delivered by Caesarean section immediately after the collision, but died a week later.
Burger had pleaded not guilty to more serious charges including two counts of criminal negligence causing death and two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
At the sentencing hearing, 15 heart-wrenching victim impact statements were delivered, bringing Burger, Addison's family and court officials to tears.
Addison's mother spoke, with Danah McKinnon-Bozek saying that not only did she lose two daughters, "I lost generations. I lost my future. I lost grandchildren - this is my life sentence. The guilt that I survived and my daughters didn’t haunts me.”
Her father Eric Hall told the court, "This accident/situation has destroyed everything I was as a man/father."
Burger also took the stand, tearfully apologizing to the girl's family for what happened, saying, "I am so sorry. I am so sorry. I know your heartache is caused by me."
Outside the courthouse, Burger did not speak to the media, but her lawyer Ron Ellis did.
He says, "From the first day I met her she said, 'This is the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and it's the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night - if I can go to sleep at night.'"
Eric Hall says while the last 15 months have been a nightmare, the community support has helped and the family is satisfied with the sentence.
"That's a tremendous burden that [Burger's] going to have to carry now. We understand that."
