I blame you for taking my mum, daughter tells ‘show-off ’ driver
Motorist jailed after killing woman in 110mph crash that flipped car over bridge and on to Tube track below
THE 13-year-old daughter of a beautician killed in a 110mph car crash has told the “show-off ” driver “you took my mum away”, as he was jailed for sevenand-a-half years.
Yagmur Ozden, 33, died when she was thrown from Rida Kazem’s £80,000 Range Rover Sport SVR in a crash on the A40 in west London on Aug 22 last year.
The 23-year-old driver, who had his leg amputated following the crash, had been driving at speeds in excess of 100mph when he hit a curb, ploughed into a stationary Tesla car and overturned, ending up on Tube tracks at Park Royal station.
Kazem admitted causing the death of Ms Ozden and causing serious injury by dangerous driving to her friend Zamarod Arif, 26, who suffered a broken leg and arm.
In a statement read out at his sentencing, Ms Ozden’s daughter said: “I blame the driver for taking my mum away. Even if he got a life sentence or 20 years it will not change anything. “I want him to have a long time in prison, so this does not happen to anyone else.”
Isleworth Crown Court heard how Kazem – a jewellery store manager – had previous convictions for speeding, including one for driving at 95mph in a 50pmh zone in May 2020.
On the night of the fatal accident, Ms Ozden and Ms Arif had visited a nightclub in west London and had arranged for Kazem to give them a lift home. Nicholas Hearn, prosecuting, said he had picked them up at 3.45am. “While travelling along the westbound carriageway, the defendant travelled at excessive speed, there was no traffic ahead of him, the road conditions were dry, the lighting conditions good and there were no other obstacles on that road,” he said.
The court heard how he accelerated away at speeds of up to 110mph but underestimated the bend in the road and hit the kerb, rolled over and flew towards a car dealership. He smashed into a stationary Tesla, which still had the driver inside. The Range Rover then flipped over a wall and came to rest on the Tube tracks below.
Mr Hearn said: “As the vehicle rolled through the car park, Ms Ozden was ejected from the Range Rover and her body landed a few metres in front of where the car lay to rest.”
Ms Arif remained in the front seat of the car, trapped inside, and suffered multiple broken bones including the snapping of a femur and forearms.
Kazem was taken to hospital, where he refused to give a blood sample to police, the court heard. His leg was later amputated there.
A post mortem examination revealed that Ms Ozden died from multiple traumatic injuries and blunt force trauma sustained in the crash.
Judge Martin Edmunds sentenced Kazem to seven years and six months in jail and disqualified him from driving for 12 years.
He said: “The speed and violence of this unfolding crash was simply horrific, and the Range Rover was reduced to a mangled heap of metal.
“The weather was dry and there was no traffic. That does not excuse your accelerating to about 110mph.
“I have no doubt that you were showing off to your passengers, both showing off your powerful car but also what you thought of as your superior driving skills.”