The family of a ‘loving nana’ who was killed on her birthday in a crash have paid tribute after a dangerous driver was jailed for more than seven years.
Shasta Ali was out celebrating her 47th birthday with a group of friends, travelling in a Skoda Fabia with Daniel Hynes at the wheel.
But Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Hynes started driving 'like a maniac', drifting five times around a roundabout before losing control and smashing the car, killing Shasta.
Following the crash, Hynes, 39, tried to run from the scene, and then repeatedly lied to police about his involvement, before DNA evidence eventually proved he was the driver.
Passengers were shouting 'slow down' at Hynes
The court heard Shasta and Hynes were with two other friends, Peter Fleming and Peter Scarsbrook, in Hynes' Fabia, which he had bought a month earlier and had 143,000 miles on the clock and back doors which could not open.
On the day in question, March 20, 2020, the group travelled around in the car ‘looking for something to do’, prosecutor Rachel Woods told the court.
Around 8pm they went to a Tesco Express in Heywood where they took alcohol from the shop without paying and ‘went on their merry way’.
They then drove to Rochdale to visit Shasta’s eldest daughter, Amber Mughal, before ‘Shas’ returned to the back seat of the car.
On the motorway heading back towards Manchester, Scarsbrook took over the driving and they stopped for petrol, which they did not pay for.
Hynes got behind the wheel again but started driving at speed on Rochdale Road, with Fleming ‘asking him to slow down’, the court heard.
They came to Slattocks Roundabout, between Middleton and Rochdale, with Hynes ‘flying around it and skidding with passengers shouting 'slow down', according to Ms Woods.
Hynes drifted around the roundabout at least five times before he lost control of the car.
Ms Woods said: “The next thing Scarsbrook recalls is waking up with head against the side window with the car on its side.
“Hynes had got out of the car and said ‘come on bro we need to run’.
“Hynes had been driving at the point of collision but he tried to say that the driver had run off and that there were five of them in the car at the time of the crash.”
However, a member of the public on the scene soon after the crash overheard Hynes saying to Scarsbrook that they needed to run away as the police were arriving.
Ms Woods added that Hynes told police he was not driving and that they had run away, while trying to convince Scarsbrook to back-up his story.
But Scarsbrook told police that Hynes was “driving like an ‘absolute maniac’”.
When arrested, Hynes continued to claim that he was not driving the car and urged police to look at the CCTV from the petrol station that showed Scarsbrook had been driving.
“This was true but there after they switched and he was driving at the material time,” Ms Woods said.
Hynes was interviewed by police while in custody and said again he was not the driver. But the airbags were tested for DNA and proved he was driving and Scarsbrook was a passenger.
Scarsbrook told police Hynes had drifted the car around the roundabout at least five times and was travelling at around 40-50mph during this.
Ms Woods described that Shasta was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the collision and her death ‘would have been rapid if not instant’.
'Her heart was huge'
A victim impact statement read to the court from two of her daughters, Amber Mugha and Mahjabeen Ali, paid tribute to Shasta Ali as a loving mother and grandmother.
Amber said: “When she was dropped off at house on that day she was really happy that day.
“She was looking really young and had a real sense of joy about her.
“She was forced into marriage when she was young and had no support from her family and was a victim of domestic abuse.
“My mum did not have a good life and it was so sad she was taken at a time when her life was good and had many things to look forward to.
“I want to remember my mum for the loving woman that she was.”
Muhjabeen added: “I have never got over the death of my mother. She was a strong woman and was always there for us even when we were in foster care.
“She always had time for us. I appreciate how hard life was for her and I wish she never went out on her birthday.
“Mum’s heart was huge and she would help anyone she could. She loved her children and grandchildren and would do anything for them.
“Mum had a beautiful face and smile. She was finally being happy. We lost everything that day.”
Talking to the Manchester Evening News after the sentencing, her daughter, Afreen Ali, said: “The day of my mother passing I recall her being in such joy and excited spirit. [We haven't] seen our mother like this for a while, she looked so young, there was so much sense of happiness about her.
“She came to the house with a bag of full of sweets and chocolates for her grandchildren.
“Our mother didn't have a great life, she suffered a lot, and it's only now as we grown up adults we realise and appreciate what she had been through.
“It's incredibly saddening, as our mother's life was taken at the time her life changed for the better. Our mother was such a caring , nurturing and loving person, anywhere she could help and support a person she would do it regardless, no matter who the person is.
“Our mother always had a beautiful smile on her face even on her low days there was nothing but smiles and laughter.
“Mother's hold their children's hand's for a while, but their hearts forever, we truly never learned what the words 'I miss you' were until we reached for our mum's hand and it wasn't there.
“In life we loved ever so dearly, in death we love you still. In our hearts you hold a place, no one else will ever fill.”
'Your driving was appalling', judge tells Hynes
Defending Hynes, Rachel Cooper, told the court: “He is extremely remorseful for what happened and is filled with regret.”
Ms Cooper said Hynes had a long record of driving offences but that he had not committed any for many years and was not over the drink driving limit at the time.
She also explained that he had suffered a ‘deep depressive episode’ after the incident which led to him being hospitalised.
“He is so deeply sorry to her family,” Ms Cooper added.
Sentencing Hynes, of Knowle Avenue, Blackpool, to seven and a half years years in jail for causing death by dangerous driving, Judge Angela Nield said: “Shas was a very much loved daughter, mother, and nana to her grandchildren.
“You took not only her life but impacted upon the lives of many others.
“In the statement of Amber she speaks of the impact of not only her which has been significant but upon children who have lost their nana.
“Shasta didn’t have an easy life and didn’t have an easy death.
“Your driving was persistent and deliberate in the face of calls to stop from those within the vehicle. It was appalling.”
Hynes was also given four months concurrently for driving while disqualified and no separate penalty for driving without insurance.
