An Essex van driver who escaped prison after causing the death of his sister in a collision has been jailed after the Court of Appeal felt his sentence was ‘unduly lenient’.

John Bond, 32, of Church Road, Tiptree, was convicted of causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drugs in September this year.

He was handed a two-year suspended sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court.

However, the Court of Appeal has today imposed an immediate custodial sentence of two years.

Bond has been ordered to surrender himself by 4.30pm today.

On January 13 last year, Bond failed to give way at a junction in Mill Lane in Tolleshunt Major resulting in a collision between his blue and silver Ford Connect and a Mercedes E320.

His sister Mischa Bond, 22, who was sat in the front passenger seat, suffered a severe head injury and was pronounced dead at the scene,

The other passenger, Ms Bond’s boyfriend, was also injured but not seriously.

The driver of the Mercedes vehicle suffered significant injury and was unable to work for six and a half months as a result of the accident. He has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General, who referred the original sentence to the Court of Appeal as unduly lenient said: “The original sentence failed to take adequate account of the tragic loss of a young woman’s life.

“I believe that this sentence of immediate imprisonment properly reflects the seriousness of Mr Bond’s offending.”