A driver who killed a great-grandmother as she crossed a road and then threw his dashcam into another person’s car has had his prison sentence increased at the Court of Appeal.
Tasham Mahmood hit 69-year-old Carol Andrew as she crossed a road in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, in July 2021, and was jailed for four years in April this year after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
The 34-year-old’s sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Solicitor General, with her lawyers telling a hearing on Thursday that it was “unduly lenient” and that Mahmood’s dangerous driving was “persistent and prolonged” and caused an “unnecessary and avoidable loss of life”.
Barristers for Mahmood said “mercy” was a “necessary feature” of the case, and that the sentence should not be increased.
Lord Justice Singh, Mrs Justice May and Mrs Justice Thornton ruled that the original sentence was unduly lenient and increased it to six years and four months.
In their judgment, Lord Justice Singh said Ms Andrew’s death was “tragic and needless”, and offered “sincere sympathy” to her family.
He continued that CCTV and dashcam footage showed the “appalling nature of the offender’s driving over a sustained period of time”.
He said: “The offender drove dangerously and without regard to the safety of other road users. He performed dangerous manoeuvres.”
Mahmood’s disqualification from driving was increased from seven years to eight years and two months.
Lawyers for the Solicitor General said in written submissions that Ms Andrew was walking home with her dog as she crossed White Lee Road in Heckmondwike when she was struck by Mahmood’s Seat Leon.
Ms Andrew, a mother of two, grandmother of four and great-grandmother of one, suffered “multiple injuries, including ‘massive chest injuries’” and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Barrister Louise Oakley said Mahmood was driving home after being told his brother was “seriously unwell”, with his sibling dying later that night.
In the minutes before the collision, Mahmood overtook several vehicles, drove through three red lights, and reached speeds of more than 80mph.
He also averaged a speed of more than 60mph on White Lee Road, twice the 30mph speed limit.
Ms Oakley continued that after the collision, Mahmood threw his dashcam into the car of a passing motorist who had stopped because of the incident, but the device was later handed in.
Mahmood admitted causing Ms Andrew’s death in January and was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court in April.
Ms Oakley said that in a victim statement, Ms Andrew’s family described her as a “warm, popular and much-loved woman” with an “active social life”, and that her death had “devastated the entire family and turned their world upside down”.
She said the judge had given too much weight to mitigating features in the case, including that Mahmood had shown remorse, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and flashbacks, and had suffered other family bereavements.
In court, Ms Oakley said: “There were mitigating factors that plainly had to be taken into consideration, but the submission of the Solicitor General is that these mitigating factors did not serve to reduce the offender’s culpability or the seriousness of the offence.”
Helen Chapman, for Mahmood, said: “I would invite the court to be slow to disturb the sentence of a judge who was in the best possible position to weigh up all the relevant features.”
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