Yahoo News 'Arrogant' drivers use road 'as race track' moments before girl, 16, killed in crash
Omar Choudhury had reached 66mph before 16-year-old Alisha Goup was killed when his car ploughed into her on a pavement in Greater Manchester.
Watch: 'Arrogant' drivers use road 'as race track' moments before girl, 16, killed in crash
Two speeding BMW drivers used roads "like a race track" before killing a teenager as she walked to college, a court has heard.
Footage released by police shows Omar Choudhury and Hamidur Rahman racing at speeds of up to 66mph in residential streets in Oldham, Greater Manchester, just moments before 16-year-old Alisha Goup was killed when Choudhury's car ploughed into her on the pavement.
Both have been jailed for 14 years each for causing death by dangerous driving after they were found guilty last month at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester.
Alisha was declared dead at the scene after Choudhury's BMW 3 series mounted the kerb and hit her as she walked to college in February.
The footage released by police shows the "irresponsible and catastrophic actions" of the two men.
Choudhury, 22, and Rahman, 24, met during a "chance encounter" earlier in the day on 23 February, before Rahman began to pursue Choudhury in a high-speed chase. It followed a "petty disagreement", the court heard during their trial.
Rahman, of Tilbury Street, Oldham, blamed Choudhury, of Broadway, Royton, for informing his family about a relationship he was having with a woman, which her family "disapproved" of.
The men raced towards Oldham town centre before Choudhury attempted to overtake on the wrong side of the road and collided with a white Ford Fiesta. He lost control and mounted the kerb, ploughing into the teenager.
Choudhury tried to flee the scene and continued to drive, but due to the damage sustained to his vehicle, he couldn't go on and he was detained by passers-by until police arrived.
"I was driving down the road and I was going too fast because I was trying to get away because these men were chasing me with a knife and now someone has punched me," Choudhury told an officer.
"Have I killed someone?," he later asked, the court heard.
Forensic investigations showed Choudhury was travelling at 66mph - double the speed limit - metres before the crash. Rahman was arrested the next day.
A jury found him guilty due to his "significant involvement", as his actions contributed towards Alisha losing her life.
A statement issued by the teenager's family said: "Alisha was the most caring, selfless, sensible person you could meet."
They said Alisha had been taught road safety as a child and that they now worried whenever her younger siblings set off for school.
"Our whole world fell apart," the statement said.
"A part of us died that day too and we all would give anything to have our Alisha back."
Police Sergeant Louise Warhurst, from Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said dangerous drivers would "not be tolerated" and warned against high speed driving.
"Alisha was walking along the footpath where she should have been safe," she said.
"Tragically, Omar Choudhury and Hamidur Rahman were treating the public highway as their personal race track."
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"Both these men drove dangerously at astonishing speeds because of a petty disagreement. They have demonstrated their arrogance by denying their responsibility throughout, each blaming the other, neither willing to accept responsibility for causing Alisha’s death."
"I’d also like to remind those who think they can ignore the speed limit to think twice before using their car at high speeds. Your actions can devastate innocent members of the public in a split second and no one deserves to lose a loved one the way the family and friends of Alisha have done."
What is the Violet-Grace's Law and the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving?
After four-year-old Violet-Grace Youens was killed by a motorist driving at more than 80mph in a 30mph zone in 2017, her family launched a petition to change the law to increase the maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving to life imprisonment.
A law change came into place in June 2022 but it has only been used a handful of times for sentences above the previous maximum of 14 years.
Choudhury and Rahman both received a 14-year sentence.
Causing death by driving is divided into four offences: causing death by dangerous driving; causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs; causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving; and causing death by driving - unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured drivers.
When sentencing, the judge must consider how much the offender is to blame.
Road deaths are on the rise
Data published by the Department for Transport (DfT) in July revealed a sharp rise in the number of road deaths in the UK.
The report showed that there was an 8.7% increase in 2022, compared to the previous year. However, the statistics were more in line with the figures released in 2019 – before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The provisional 2022 data report showed that the total number of fatalities increased from 1,558 in 2021 to 1,695 in 2022.
The data also showed that 75% of all deaths on British roads were caused by men.
Road safety charity Brake says that five people die every day on the road in the UK and 84 are seriously injured.
