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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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In August, Ali was convicted in his absence<\/a> of causing death by dangerous driving after failing to attend his trial.<\/p>\n At a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, the court was told he is currently in Pakistan but intends to return to the UK.<\/p>\n 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”.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “I am unable to accept that assurance,” Ms Khan said.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n However, prosecutor Philip Stott said that the Highway Code clearly stated that an amber light required a driver to stop at the stop line.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “Instead, the defendant broke those rules and, in doing so, caused the death of Mr Ryan.”<\/p>\n Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on <\/em>Sounds<\/em><\/a> and follow BBC London on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>X<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>. Send your story ideas to <\/em>hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\nAli ‘had time to stop’<\/h2>\n
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