A driver who killed a mother and her daughter in a head-on Boxing Day crash while ‘racing’ with another car 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 – crashed into a quad bike and then hit an MG car containing four generations of the same family.
A court heard that Amanda Riley, 49, and Linda Philips, 72, both died at the scene despite the efforts of paramedics to save them at the roadside.
Four other family members travelling in the MG suffered injuries, including a fractured sternum, a broken leg requiring surgery and bruising to the lungs.
Senencing Ibrahim this afternoon, 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 said of Ibrahim’s claim to have no meaningful memory of the crash: ‘Despite your claim to the contrary, you obviously knew what you had done.’
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 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.’
Mohammed Ibrahim had been racing another car when he ploughed into a quad bike and then an MG at up to 84mph, the court heard
Amanda Riley, 49, and Linda Philips, 72, died ‘on a cold roadside scared and in tremendous pain’
Ibrahim was also banned from driving for 18 years and nine months.
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 a 30mph stretch of road in Shard End, Birmingham, Mr Vollans said the driver of the BMW X3 had never been traced.
The barrister 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 defendant initially hit a quad bike, which had run a red light, and lost control while in the wrong lane.
Ibrahim, of Sheldon, Birmingham, then hit the kerb of the central reservation and crashed into the family’s car as it slowed down on the opposite carriageway on Meadway, at its junction with Kitt’s Green Road.
The driver’s seat of the MG was knocked out of its fixings and it caught fire, leaving its occupants trapped as a member of public attempted to free them.
Pictures from the scene of the fatal incident appeared to show one vehicle in flames
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.
The court heard Ibrahim was caught on CCTV at Heartlands Hospital, where he was treated for a leg injury, and he later returned to the scene, where he was arrested but refused a breath test.
Mr Vollans told Birmingham Crown Court: ‘Both cars were completely destroyed as a consequence of this collision.’
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’.
George Philips said his ‘world fell apart’ at the death of his wife Lynda Philips and daughter Amanda Riley
In a statement read to the court by Mr Vollans, George Philips, the husband of Linda, said: ‘Our family are the centre of our world. The aftermath (of the crash) was the complete devastation of my family.
‘My wife and daughter had both died. My world fell apart. I felt an immense emptiness.’
Amanda and Linda were both hard-working, doted on their families and would help anyone, Mr Philips added.
Defence barrister Jasvir Mann, offering mitigation, told the court that Ibrahim has no previous convictions and there was ample evidence, including references, that he had ‘led a thoroughly positive life’.
Mr Mann said: ‘My instructions are that he has no meaningful memory of that day.’
Birmingham Crown Court haerd both cars were completely destroyed as a consequence of the collision
The actions of the quad bike rider, who also left the scene and has never been identified, had contributed to what happened, Mr Mann added.
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.
Neelam Shafiq of the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘Mohammed Ibrahim made a choice to get behind the wheel of his car and drive dangerously on a residential street without any consideration for others.
‘His reckless actions resulted in the untimely deaths of a much-loved mother and daughter and has 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.’
Speaking after Ibrahim pleaded guilty, Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, from West Midland Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: ‘Amanda and Linda tragically lost their lives, and others were injured due to the selfishness and dangerous driving of Ibrahim.
‘He made no attempt to help anyone and ran off, rather than face up to what he’d done, but we managed to quickly identify and arrest him.
‘This incident has devastated a family who we have continued to support during these tragic times.
‘Nothing will ever bring Amanda or Linda back, but we hope that this plea will provide the family with a sense of justice.’
