A man has been jailed for killing a pedestrian when he was driving a stolen car in Digbeth after we launched an appeal to trace him. Birmingham man, Raihan Ahmed has been jailed for causing death by dangerous driving after he struck Ghulam Nabi in August this year.
Ahmed, aged 20, who was driving a stolen Ford Focus was found to be speeding down Great Barr Street at over 53ph in a 20mph zone. Due to his speed as he drove over a small bridge, CCTV showed the car taking off from the ground. When he landed he lost control of the vehicle and struck a bus stop before hitting Mr Nabi, who was walking along the pavement.
Mr Nabi, aged 61, suffered serious injuries and despite the best efforts of many people who assisted at the scene, he sadly died.After hitting Mr Nabi, Ahmed failed to stop at the scene, and later abandoned the car, which was displaying false registration plates, in Adderley Street. Detectives immediately launched a manhunt to trace the driver, and released CCTV images of Ahmed in an attempt to identify him. Following a great response from the appeal, Ahmed was arrested just over 12 hours later.
At Birmingham Crown Court Ahmed, of Langdale Road, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving and driving offences and on Tuesday (9 November) he was sentenced to three years and eight months and banned from driving for four years and 10 months. Temporary Detective Inspector Paul Hughes, from our serious collision investigation unit said, “Mr Nabi was a totally innocent party in this matter and as a pedestrian he should have been afforded safety on the pavement. “It is always a difficult decision to release footage from such tragic cases, however this is some of the worse driving I have seen in a long time. Ahmed was driving at such a speed on a public road and in a specifically restricted speed limit, that the loss of control on the bridge resulted in all four wheels leaving the road surface.
“By releasing this footage with the support of Mr Nabi’s family, I hope that it will make people think again about their driving and the responsibility they carry when driving a motor vehicle. A split second decision can mean the difference between life or death.”
