A young nurse will spend nine years behind bars after she knocked down and killed a 28-year-old mother while speeding and using Snapchat on her phone.
Romeesa Ahmed, 27, hit Athira Anilkumar Laly Kumari with her car in Leeds in February 2023 as she rushed home from a night shift – before ploughing into a bus shelter and injuring a man.
A court heard that Kumari, a mother-of-one, had arrived in the UK from India just days before her tragic death in search of a better life – and was set to start her degree as a mature student at Leeds-Beckett University.
Prosecutor Jessica Strange told Leeds Crown Court Kumari’s aspirations were shattered when she was struck by Ahmed – who was travelling at a speed of 60mph in an 40mph zone.
Kumari was hurled into the air after being hit and ‘somersaulted’ to the ground.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of the accident, but Kumari died from severe head injuries despite frantic efforts to save her.
A man waiting at the bus stop nearby said he heard a bang and saw Ahmed’s VW Golf hurtling towards him, but had no time react.
He said he saw both of his legs facing the wrong way so knew both had been broken and ‘felt the worst pain he had ever experienced’, Ms Strange told the court.
The 42-year-old required emergency surgery on his legs. He also suffered a fractured elbow and was in hospital for five months.
It was also revealed that just months after the tragedy, Ahmed received two driving bans – one in July 2023 and the other in October 2023.
Simon Hustler, mitigating, said his client was still a trainee nurse but accepted she was going to jail over what he called a ‘ghastly error of judgement on this day’.
Sentencing her to nine years behind bars and an 11-year driving ban, Judge Tom Bayliss KC told her: ‘You were ignoring the speed limit. You did not see Mrs Kumari because of the speed you were travelling and perhaps distracted by something on your phone. You killed her.’
Paying tribute, to Kumari, her family said: ‘She was not just a member of our family – she was our foundation, the glue that held us all together.. A loving daughter, a devoted wife, a doting mother and a source of light and inspiration to everyone who knew her.
‘Athira was the heart of our lives. Her absence has left a void so deep, so profound, that even words fail to convey the magnitude of our grief.’
Detective Constable Adele Murphy-Hartley, said: ‘Speeding and using a mobile phone while driving are considered as two of the most common contributory factors to serious injury and fatal road traffic collisions, and this should be a warning to all of what can happen when these factors come into play.
‘Ahmed’s recklessness has resulted in the loss of a determined woman who came to England to better herself and secure a bright future for her and her family.
‘Athira made the difficult decision to leave her young daughter in the care of family in order to do so, and now her young daughter will have to grow up not knowing her mother.
‘Her husband has been widowed and her parents have been left to deal with the death of their much-loved daughter.’