Driver who defied epilepsy warning to stay off the road jailed after killing pedestrian

A motorist who killed a pedestrian after having an epileptic fit at the wheel, despite being warned he was unfit to drive, has been jailed for three and a half years.

Stuart Lusher was also given a lifetime ban from driving after admitting causing death by dangerous driving at Kingston Crown Court, Scotland Yard said.

Lusher was driving his Mazda SUV in south London when he had a seizure while stopped at a red traffic light on June 27 last year.

He had been on his way to visit his gravely ill wife in hospital.

The fit caused him to mount the pavement where he hit 48-year-old Phil Westnott, trapping him under the car.

Mr Westnott suffered a catastrophic head injury and was pronounced dead at the scene in Merantun Way, Merton.

A police investigation found Lusher, 56, from Benhill Wood Road, Sutton, had a history of epilepsy and chronic sleep apnoea and had ignored numerous warnings from medical professionals not to drive.

Detective Sergeant Jeff Edwards, from the Met's serious collision investigation unit, paid tribute to the victim's family, adding: "Mr Lusher's decision to drive, despite warnings from medical staff, resulted in a terrible collision that cost an innocent man his life."