A speeding driver who hit and killed a jogger in south-west London will be sent to prison for five years if he ever returns to the UK, a judge has said.
Rashid Ali, 30, from Slough, was driving at twice the 20 mph (32 kmph) speed limit when his Range Rover Sport hit 29-year-old Jack Patrick Ryan near Battersea Bridge in west London on 13 January 2021.
In August, Ali was convicted in his absence of causing death by dangerous driving after failing to attend his trial.
At a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, the court was told he is currently in Pakistan but intends to return to the UK.
Barrister James Scobie KC previously read out an email in which the defendant relayed his “great stress” and “anxiety” and apologised to “everyone he had let down”.
“I feel very ashamed of myself and have assassinated my own character”, and vowed to return to Britain to face any prison sentence,” Ali wrote.
Sentencing Khan to five years in prison, as well as a five-and-a-half year driving ban, Judge Judy Khan said she had received a letter from the defendant saying he intended to return to serve his sentence.
“I am unable to accept that assurance,” Ms Khan said.
Ali ‘had time to stop’
CCTV footage of the collision showed marketing executive Mr Ryan was struck and thrown into the air before landing on the front of the Range Rover on Battersea Bridge.
When Ali’s vehicle was about 50m (55yds) away from the traffic lights, they had changed from green to amber – which would have given him time to stop, jurors were told.
The defendant had claimed Mr Ryan ran across the road in front of his car, leaving him no time to apply the brakes, the court heard.
However, prosecutor Philip Stott said that the Highway Code clearly stated that an amber light required a driver to stop at the stop line.
“He had plenty of time to stop safely, and he was therefore obliged to do so by the rules of the road,” Mr Stott said.
“Instead, the defendant broke those rules and, in doing so, caused the death of Mr Ryan.”
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