A pair of boy racers were involved in a petty row before killing a girl as she walked to college in a horror BMW smash.
Omar Choudhury, 22, was driving 66mph in a 30mph zone in February when he tried to overtake a car. He clipped another vehicle and lost control.
Alisha Goup, 16, was walking to college on the pavement on Rochdale Road when the car mounted the kerb and hit her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly before the fatal crash, Choudhury was being chased by Hamidur Rahman, 24, a member of his extended family who was angry at Choudhury for telling his family about a relationship he was having with a woman.
The pair had met by chance at Chadderton Way, Rahman had a baseball bat and Choudhury fled “like a rocket”.
Witnesses said it looked like the men behind the wheels were ‘racing’, with one man saying they were “going to kill someone driving like that”.
Despite turning off the road six seconds before the crash, prosecutors said Rahman was just as guilty as Choudhury for his contributions to how he was driving.
After his arrest Choudhury said: “Have I killed someone?”
Mitigating for Choudhury, Jennifer Devans-Tamakloe said at the sentencing hearing that her client was genuinely remorseful. “He couldn’t even imagine the pain and distress felt by the victim’s family. He will live with that guilt and burden for the rest of his life,” she said.
For Rahman, Sarah Magill read a letter he had written, which said: “I feel total pain and heartache over the incident and the fact I played a part in it. I pray her parents and siblings can find peace and can forgive me for the wrongs to them. I can’t imagine the pain they feel – I am so sorry.”
Sentencing, Judge Matthew Corbett-Jones said Rahman had driven in an aggressive and intimidating way and ‘should have known’ it would have caused Choudhury to drive the way he did.
He told Choudhury: “You did not believe the rules of the road applied to you.”
Rahman, of Tilbury Street in Oldham; and Choudhury, of Broadway in Oldham, were jailed for 14 years apiece. Both were banned from driving for 12 years.
Police Sergeant Louise Warhurst said: “Alisha was walking along the footpath where she should have been safe. Omar Choudhury and Hamidur Rahman were treating the public highway as their personal race track with no regard whatsoever for all other members of the public.
“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. Thankfully, they were both found guilty.”
