![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/woman-killed-on-her-birthday-night-out-after-drunk-driver-smashes-into-rickshaw/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/0_PAY-cnl_sophie_strickland.jpg&description=Luis Balcazar Soto, 24, was twice over the drink-drive limit when he smashed into a rickshaw, killing 31-year-old Sophie Strickland, who was celebrating her birthday with friendsSophie Strickland was killed when a driver smashed into the rickshaw she was travelling in A drunk driver has been jailed for more than nine years after crashing into a rickshaw, killing a passenger on her birthday night out. Luis Balcazar Soto, 24, did not have a licence and was twice over the drink-drive limit when the silver Kia he was driving smashed into the pedicab. Sophie Strickland, 31, was thrown from the rickshaw when the crash took place in Elephant and Castle, London. The rickshaw's driver Tanzir Ahmed, who is in his 30s, was seriously injured while Ms Strickland was killed in the collision in the early hours of July 10. Mr Ahmed had stopped in New Kent Road so Ms Strickland and her friend Jade Redford, who was not harmed in the crash, could use the cash machine of a branch of Tesco Express. Soto, whose former partner and friend were in the car with him, was described by witnesses as "driving like a madman" as he hit speeds of up to 70mph. Southwark Crown Court heard on Tuesday that Ms Strickland, from Hay-on-Wye, in mid Wales, had come to the capital to celebrate her birthday with friends. Ms Strickland was "in the prime of her life" when she was killed Reading her victim impact statement from the witness box, Ms Redford said: "We were heading back to the hotel after having one of the best nights of our lives. Sophie and I were laughing to almost the very last second." Ms Strickland had just got back into the rickshaw before the collision while Ms Redford returned to find her friend lying among the wreckage. "I knew all I could do was sit there with Sophie, hold her, stroke her hair and tell her how much she was loved, and that memory haunts me every day," she said. Balcazar Soto, from Elephant and Castle, tried to run from the scene but was stopped from escaping by members of t){kind=link}
Luis Balcazar Soto, 24, was twice over the drink-drive limit when he smashed into a rickshaw, killing 31-year-old Sophie Strickland, who was celebrating her birthday with friends
A drunk driver has been jailed for more than nine years after crashing into a rickshaw, killing a passenger on her birthday night out.
Luis Balcazar Soto, 24, did not have a licence and was twice over the drink-drive limit when the silver Kia he was driving smashed into the pedicab.
Sophie Strickland, 31, was thrown from the rickshaw when the crash took place in Elephant and Castle, London.
The rickshaw’s driver Tanzir Ahmed, who is in his 30s, was seriously injured while Ms Strickland was killed in the collision in the early hours of July 10.