Hit-and-run driver who fled to Latvia after killing schoolboy in 75mph Coventry collision jailed

A hit-and-run driver who fled to Latvia after killing a 12-year-old boy at 75mph as he crossed the road with friends has been jailed for nine years and four months.

The force of the collision in Coventry in June 2024 threw Keaton Slater into two parked vehicles, "likely killing him instantly", Warwick Crown Court heard on Friday as Aleksanders Dolars, 23, was sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving.

Dolars was extradited from Latvia to face criminal proceedings following a change in the law in July this year, having entered a guilty plea at the same court in September.

Jailing him and imposing a 10-year driving ban upon his release from prison, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC told Dolars his "grossly excessive speed made a collision with Keaton unavoidable".

She said: "When your car struck Keaton, it projected him into parked cars, likely killing him instantly.

"You must have known you had struck a pedestrian and you must have realised he would be gravely injured, but you did not stop or even slow down, you sped away and abandoned your car some seven-and-a-half miles away.

"His injuries were catastrophic and fatal."

Wearing a white shirt and black trousers, Dolars stared straight ahead in the dock as he was told he must serve two-thirds of his sentence before becoming eligible for release on licence.

Dolars was only extradited to the UK over two years after the fatal collision. He was flown to Gatwick Airport in August and taken to a custody block.

Crown Prosecution Service spokesman Ben Samples said in a statement at the time: “The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to charge Dolars Aleksanders with one count of causing death by dangerous driving following a police investigation into a fatal road traffic collision that led to the death of Keaton Slater.

“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court to pursue criminal proceedings.

“CPS West Midlands has worked closely with West Midlands Police, Home Office, the Latvian authorities, Europol, the Joint International Crime Centre (JICC), CPS International and our Extradition Unit to bring Mr Aleksanders back to face proceedings in a UK court for an alleged crime that took place here.”