A speeding driver who killed a great-grandmother as she was crossing a road has had his jail sentence increased by more than two years at the Court of Appeal.
Tasham Mahmood was jailed for four years for killing Carol Andrew as she crossed a road in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, in July 2021.
Mahmood, 34, who had thrown his dashcam into another vehicle after the collision, was sentenced in April after admitting causing death by dangerous driving.
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On Thursday, the term was increased to six years and four months after a panel of three judges accepted the Solicitor General’s case that the original term was “unduly lenient” as Mahmood’s dangerous driving was “persistent and prolonged” and caused an “unnecessary and avoidable loss of life”.
Barristers for Mahmood, who was driving home after being told his brother, who died later that night, was “seriously unwell” said the sentence should not be increased.
In the judgment, Lord Justice Singh said Ms Andrew’s death was “tragic and needless”, and offered “sincere sympathy” to her family.
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CCTV and dashcam footage showed the “appalling nature of the offender’s driving over a sustained period of time.
“The offender drove dangerously and without regard to the safety of other road users. He performed dangerous manoeuvres.”
Mahmood’s disqualification from driving, originally set at seven years, was changed to eight years and two months.
Ms Andrew, 69, was walking home with her dog as she crossed White Lee Road in Heckmondwike when she was hit by Mahmood’s Seat Leon, lawyers for the Solicitor General said in written submissions.
A mother of two, grandmother of four and great-grandmother of one, Ms Andrew suffered “multiple injuries, including ‘massive chest injuries'” and was pronounced dead at the scene.
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In the minutes before the collision, Mahmood overtook several vehicles, drove through three red lights, and reached speeds of more than 80mph (129kmh).
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He also averaged a speed of more than 60mph (96kmh) on White Lee Road, twice the 30mph (48kmh) speed limit.
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Mahmood threw his dashcam into the car of a passing motorist who had stopped because of the incident, but the device was later handed in, Ms Oakley said.
Mahmood admitted causing Ms Andrew’s death in January and was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court in April.
Ms Oakley said that in a victim statement, Ms Andrew’s family described her as a “warm, popular and much-loved woman” whose death had “devastated the entire family”.
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves welcomed the decision, saying Ms Andrew had “served her community diligently” while Mahmood’s “reckless driving needlessly took an innocent woman’s life”.
