A driver who killed a woman and her two dogs while travelling at twice the speed limit on a residential road has admitted causing her death.
Dantay Roche, 24, of Tine Road, Chigwell, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on Wednesday, 28 October to causing death by dangerous driving. Roche, now 24, was 21 at the time of the collision. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the same court on 25 January 2027.
Marie Theobald, 48, was crossing Manford Way in Chigwell with her two Maltese dogs, Riley and Honey, at around 5pm on 22 December 2023 when she was struck by Roche’s white Seat Leon. Despite the efforts of police, paramedics and London’s Air Ambulance, she was pronounced dead at the scene. Both dogs also died in the collision. The collision happened on Manford Way, a residential road in Chigwell.
Forensic collision investigators later established that the car had been travelling at 61mph in a 30mph zone when it hit her, more than double the limit. Roche also admitted causing death while driving an uninsured vehicle, and criminal damage offences relating to the deaths of the two dogs.
The Seat was found abandoned in Stevens Way, a nearby cul-de-sac, with significant damage. CCTV recorded after the collision showed the driver parking the vehicle and getting out with a passenger to inspect the damage before leaving the scene. Roche, who was quickly identified as the car’s registered keeper, handed himself in at Ilford police station the following day. He was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and released on bail while enquiries continued.
Detectives built the case on a combination of evidence: the forensic collision investigator’s reconstruction of the car’s speed, CCTV showing the driver and a passenger inspecting the damaged car before leaving the scene, and digital enquiries placing Roche in the area at the time of the collision. The investigation also established that he had been driving without insurance.
He was charged on 29 July this year and appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 30 September, before the case moved to the Old Bailey, where he entered his guilty pleas this week. The plea comes almost three years after the collision itself: the crash happened on 22 December 2023, Roche handed himself in the next day, and it was not until July 2026 that he was charged, with the magistrates’ hearing following in September and the guilty plea at the Old Bailey this week.
Detective Inspector Mark Braithwaite, who led the investigation, said: “This was an awful incident that resulted in Marie’s death in the most tragic circumstances just days before Christmas. My thoughts remain with her family and loved ones.” He added that Roche had never explained why he was driving as he was that night, and described his decision to leave the scene after striking Marie and her dogs as “cowardly”.
In a statement released after Marie’s death in December 2023, her family described her as “a loving mother, daughter, sister, niece and friend” who “always put others first”. They added: “The dogs Riley and Honey were much loved members of the family. They adored Marie as she adored them. May they all rest in perfect peace together.”
As Roche has pleaded guilty to all three counts, there will be no trial. The hearing on 25 January 2027 will deal with sentence alone, and he will remain in custody until then. His plea is the latest death case to reach the courts in south London this week, following a Balham driver charged with causing death by dangerous driving and a Battersea man convicted of manslaughter over a pensioner’s death in Balham.
