A new driver who crushed a family friend beneath the wheels of his Honda Civic has been jailed for three years.

Olugbenga Shofolahan, 44, collided with 30-year-old Tamika Malo when he reversed at high speed out of her driveway on October 12 2013.

Ms Malo’s daughter had been for a sleepover at Shofolahan’s home with his children and he was dropping her back home in Lordship Road, Stoke Newington.

The victim had just got out of a taxi and was paying her fare when the car shot across the road and hit her before smashing into a wall.

Shofolahan, of Lea View House, Springfield, Upper Clapton, denied causing death by dangerous driving but changed his plea on the second day of his trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

He had only just passed his UK driving test and bought the automatic vehicle eight days previously.

Neil Baki, for Shofolahan, said: “It’s an understatement to say this matter for all concerned is truly and utterly tragic.

“Mr Shofolahan lived an exemplary life until that point, he’s been an active participant in his church, a loyal friend and a loving husband and father to his own children.

“He was told not to contact the family and he followed that advice and he does wish genuinely to offer his remorse and his apologies to the family – they will have to live with what he did and so will he.”

He told the court that Shofolahan had been undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy to help him deal with anxiety as a result of the accident.

Sentencing Shofolahan, Judge John Lafferty said: “To try and reverse in such a narrow space without looking behind you – and I am satisfied that you did not – was a seriously dangerous manoeuvre, which exposed a vulnerable person to the risks that sadly came about.”

Shofolahan was also barred from driving for five years and must pass an extended test before he is allowed back on the roads.