 Shala was said to have panicked after losing sight of her friend's car |
A Swiss woman who drove her car into a police van, killing two officers, while sending a mobile phone text message has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. Angela Shala, 33, was driving at 170km/h (105mph) on a French motorway in June 2003 while using her phone to find a friend's car she had been following.
Two other police officers were injured when Shala's car drove into their van.
She was also fined 1,500 euros ($1,800) and banned from driving for five years.
The judge at the French court in Thonon-les-Bains, in Haute-Savoie, found Shala had been criminally negligent in causing the accident.
He rejected a plea from the widow of one of the officers that incarceration would deprive Shala's children of their mother.
Shala had broken down in tears during the court case and vowed never to drive again.
The court heard that she had a history of mental problems.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 