salfordblues
Well-Known Member
A learner driver who killed a nine-year-old girl on her first outing has been jailed for two years after the judge told her she had showed a "thoughtless disregard for the safety of others".
Leeds crown court heard that Beatrice Mawamba, 34, had given herself only online theory lessons and had never driven a car when her husband took her out on 31 May near their home in Chapeltown, Leeds.
Unable to find the brake pedal, she lost control and careered down an alley into a children's play area. Nine-year-old Shamirah Grant was hit and killed by the car, and two other girls were injured, one seriously.
Michael Smith, prosecuting, said: "The children describe playing in the early evening and saw a man and woman in a green Vauxhall car. The man was giving some sort of instruction to the woman. The children heard the engine revving, and saw it stutter and come flying down towards them fast."
The vehicle was earlier described as "bunny hopping" before Mawamba lost control. "The defendant described the car going very fast and her husband telling her to brake, but she did not know how to. Her husband also tried to stop the car but couldn't." Smith added: "When challenged by the police she was unable to say which pedal was the brake."
Mawamba, a mother of three, admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment; she was also banned from driving for five years, and told she must take an extended test when her ban elapses.
Sentencing her, Mr Justice Openshaw said she had been "profoundly ignorant" of the most basic skills. "It seems to me she was unaware of putting the car in gear," he said. "Having done so, she was unable to disengage first gear.
"She did not know how to apply the brake pedal; she could not find the brake pedal; she did not know where it was, or what purpose it served."
The judge said that taking control of a vehicle when "so lacking the most basic driving skills" amounted to a "thoughtless disregard for the safety of others".
He said a prison sentence was necessary "to impress upon others that driving a car without having any idea how to control it is seriously anti-social and presents a substantial risk to the public, and such behaviour must strongly be discouraged".
Graham Parkin, for Mawamba, said that his client remained extremely distressed by the tragedy and she wished she could "turn back the clock".
Outside court, Shamirah Grant's parents, Gary and Jennifer, said that although they had forgiven Mawamba and her husband for the accident, their daughter's death had left "a heart-rending gap within our family's lives". They intend to commemorate their daughter by helping young people enter the performing arts, about which she had been passionate.
A spokeswoman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "This absolutely horrendous case goes to show just how dangerous a vehicle can be when it is in the wrong hands.
"We encourage people to take private practice in support of their professional lessons because it's really important that learner drivers get as much practice as possible before they become fully licensed. But before learner drivers embark on private practice lessons, it's really crucial that they have mastered basic car control skills."
She said it was also vital for those giving private practice to talk to the professional instructor to gauge the learner's level of competence before taking them out. The judge's sentence, she added, sent out "a strong message to learner drivers that they are responsible for the safety of people around them."
Surely her husband has to share some of the blame.