A jilted girlfriend is facing jail for killing her love rival in a Fast and Furious-style car chase.
Melissa Pesticcio, 23, "literally drove Sophie Taylor, 22, to her death" after causing her to smash into a brick wall during a high-speed chase through the streets of Cardiff.
Jealous Pesticcio "started and maintained" the fatal pursuit after chasing Taylor away from the home of long-term lover Michael Wheeler, 22, who both woman had been in a relationship with.
The two young women had repeatedly clashed after Wheeler dumped Pesticcio for blonde call centre worker Taylor.
But "manipulative" Wheeler went back to Pesticcio after cheating Taylor out of £6500 ($12,100) for a motorbike she bought him and she demanded her money back.
Her requests for a refund led to her being chased off in her car by Pesticcio and Wheeler.
Wheeler's Vauxhall Corsa "barged" Taylor's BMW into a wall after a high-speed chase through the streets of the city, killing her and leaving her passenger Joshua Deguara with "life-changing injuries".
Wheeler admitted to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and causing death by dangerous driving. Pesticcio denied the chase.
Yesterday she was found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and severely injuring Deguara after a 10-day trial at Cardiff Crown Court.
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said Pesticcio "started and maintained" the fatal pursuit.
He said: "In her rear view mirror, Sophie Taylor would have seen Melissa Pesticcio for 70 per cent of the journey.
"Sophie Taylor died and Joshua Deguara suffered life-changing injuries as a result of that pursuit she started and maintained."
Pesticcio admitted she was "hurt" after Wheeler left her for Taylor around June last year, which led to "a period of hostility" between the women.
But Wheeler dumped Taylor after she bought him a £6500 bike and began sleeping with Pesticcio again, the court heard.
Taylor took Deguara with her to confront Wheeler and demand the bike back, but a row broke out.
Wheeler then rang Pesticcio for help and the pair, with Wheeler's sister Lisa, chased Taylor in their cars.
The three cars raced through the streets of Cardiff as Taylor tried to shake off her pursuers.
CCTV showed Pesticcio leading the chase, just after midnight on August 22, 2016, with Wheeler behind.
Wheeler twice drove onto the wrong side of the road to try to get closer to Taylor, and managed to overtake Pesticcio on the last occasion down a narrow terraced street.
When Wheeler's black Corsa gained on Taylor's black BMW, he intentionally barged into her, causing her to spin out of control and crash into a brick wall.
Taylor was killed and Deguara spent "many months" in hospital.
Pesticcio admitted wanting to win Wheeler back, and told the jury: "He was saying he wanted to work things out. I was hoping to get back together with him."
However, she denied "hating" Taylor or plotting to harm her, despite sending foul-mouthed messages about her to friends.
The court heard in the days before Taylor's death Pesticcio sent a text about her to a friend stating: "I will find her, and I will kill her."
Asked why she sent the message, Pesticcio said: "I disliked her but it was a line from the film Taken."
She denied other texts she sent showed she was prepared to "bully and threaten" Taylor, including one where she threatened to hit her.
Pesticcio, of Marshfield, Cardiff, will be sentenced on Friday. She was remanded in custody.
Broken forever
The families of Sophie Taylor and Joshua Deguara released a joint statement expressing their heartbreak.
Both said that "no sentence" would ever compensate for the trauma they had been through.
The statement read: "Two families were broken forever on August 22, 2016. We have been left devastated and heartbroken at the loss of our beautiful Princess Sophie, and the horrific injuries suffered by Josh.
"This has now become an ongoing nightmare that both our families have to endure daily.
"Since that dreadful day we feel that justice can and will never be fully served. For the death of our beloved Sophie, there will be no amount of justice for the events that led to her death and the life changing injuries that Josh has sustained - no amount of justice will ever be sufficient.
"Sophie was our princess, the light of our life - a strong and independent young woman with a huge heart.
"She was a beautiful daughter, sister and friend, capable of giving so much love, and in return all she ever wanted was to be loved back.
"As a close family, her death has left us ripped apart, unable to cope, really. We fear we will never be able to get over the devastating loss of our lovely angel.
"Sophie will never be replaced in our hearts. No amount of sentence will ever bring her back to us, nor will it wipe away the horrific life-changing physical and mental scars suffered by Josh.
"Joshua is a lovely young man who has his whole life ahead of him. He has been left with devastating injuries that has changed his life forever. He is a bright, kind and caring young man with an amazing sense of humour.
"He was very independent with a great circle of friends so had a busy social life. He enjoyed playing football and was due to start a new job just before the crash. This is now not the case - he is housebound now and has lost all his independence.
"We are a very close family and this incident has ruined the life of a wonderful young man and taken the life of a beautiful young woman. It has also destroyed both our families."