A driver who killed a mother and her daughter on Boxing Day while racing another car through traffic lights at up to 84mph has been jailed for 13 years and three months.
Mohammed Ibrahim, 25, fled the scene after his BMW 420 – travelling “in convoy” with a BMW X3 in a 30mph zone – crashed into a quad bike while overtaking, and then hit an MG car containing four generations of the same family.
Birmingham Crown Court was told on Wednesday that Amanda Riley, 49, and Linda Philips, 72, both died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics to save them at the roadside in the Shard End area of the city.
Four other family members travelling in the MG suffered injuries, including a fractured sternum, a broken leg requiring surgery and bruising to the lungs.
Passing sentence, Judge Paul Farrer KC said passer-by Stuart Bates had courageously helped passengers escape from the burning MG and “may well have saved three lives”.
The judge, who ordered that Mr Bates receive £300 from public funds, also imposed a driving ban on Ibrahim of 18 years and nine months.
The judge said of the defendant’s claim to have no meaningful memory of the crash: “Despite your claim to the contrary, you obviously knew what you had done.”
The judge said Ibrahim’s speed and driving had been “grossly irresponsible” and showed a disregard for the obvious risks to others.
Among four aggravating features of the case, the judge said, was the fact Ibrahim had a passenger and had failed to remain at the scene in circumstances where he must have known he had caused a “catastrophic” accident.
But the judge added: “I accept that the actions of the unidentified rider of the quad bike made a significant contribution to what happened and treat that as representing significant mitigation.”
Describing the circumstances of the crash at Ibrahim’s sentencing hearing, prosecutor Philip Vollans said the victims were travelling home from family celebrations on the evening of December 26 2023.
Before showing video footage to the sentencing judge of Ibrahim’s car speeding past a bus towards the crash site on Meadway, at its junction with Kitt’s Green Road, Mr Vollans said the driver of the BMW X3 had never been traced.
Mr Vollans said of the two BMWs: “Both cars were speeding, both cars racing each other.
“The defendant was the faster driver of the two.”
Estimating that Ibrahim was speeding for at least half a mile before the “tremendous” impact, reaching 80-84mph, Mr Vollans added that the quad bike had run a red light.
Ibrahim, of Old College Road, Sheldon, crashed into the MG as it slowed down on the opposite carriageway, the court heard.
The driver’s seat of the MG was knocked out of its fixings and it caught fire, leaving its occupants trapped.
A witness saw Ibrahim, who was saying “I need to go”, lying on the ground near the driver’s side of the BMW before he left the scene.
His car was also on fire following the crash, the court heard.
Three relatives of the victims, including the driver of the car, read victim impact statements to the court, with one describing those killed as having “died fighting for their lives, lying on a cold roadside, scared and in tremendous pain”.
Ibrahim pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Neelam Shafiq, of CPS West Midlands, said of the defendant: “His reckless actions resulted in the untimely deaths of a much-loved mother and daughter and have caused unimaginable pain for their family.
“Nothing can undo the tragedy suffered by the family of Linda Phillips and Amanda Riley and we extend our sympathies to them.
“We hope this sentence sends a clear message that dangerous driving will not be tolerated and that perpetrators will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.”
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