Man admits NY hit-and-run death

Julia Thomson had moved from Edinburgh to New York

A student has pleaded guilty to manslaughter following the hit-and-run death last September of an Edinburgh woman who had moved to New York.

Tenzing Bhutia, whose car hit 24-year-old Julia Thomson near to her Lower East Side apartment, admitted being over the legal alcohol limit.

Ms Thomson was pronounced dead at St Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan.

Bhutia, 21, is expected to be given two years in prison when he is sentenced at Manhattan State Supreme Court in June.

The Baruch College senior also admitted during a hearing that he knew he had hit something but kept driving.

'Happy life'

Prosecutors said Bhutia's blood alcohol level was 0.087%, a fraction over the 0.08% legal limit.

Ms Thomson had reportedly recently returned to the US after a holiday in England when the accident happened.

She was between jobs after leaving the company Complinet and had been looking for marketing positions.

Her close friends and family set up the Julia Thomson Memorial Fund, whose main purpose is to support a private community project in the north of Brazil.

The fund's website states: "Julia was a kind and loving girl, who was a wonderful friend and caring sister. She will be greatly missed.

"In her 24 years Julia led a full, happy and adventurous life and, although now absent from our daily lives, she will never be forgotten."