Learner Driver Jailed For Two Years After Killing Nine-Year-Old Girl On First Lesson

Learner Driver Who Killed Girl On First Lesson Jailed

A learner driver who crashed and killed a nine-year-old girl while on her first driving lesson has been jailed for two years.

Beatrice Mawamba, 34, panicked and careered down a narrow alleyway into a grassed courtyard while taking a lesson with her husband, Leeds Crown Court heard.

The court was told Mawamba, a mother of three who had not driven a car before, crushed to death nine-year-old Shamirah Grant and injured two other girls, one seriously.

Prosecuting, Michael Smith 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 and veered dangerously out of control, down the steps of a narrow alleyway and on to the grassed children's play area near Leopold Grove in the Chapeltown area of Leeds.

"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.

"When challenged by the police she was unable to say which pedal was the brake," Mr Smith added.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Openshaw said Mawamba was "profoundly ignorant" of the most basic driving skills, adding that setting off to drive when "so lacking the most basic driving skills" amounted to a "thoughtless disregard for the safety of others".

"In my judgment a prison sentence is 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 who admitted causing death by dangerous driving in May this year, said his client was remorseful and remained "extremely distressed" by the tragedy.

"She wishes, of course, she could turn back the clock and that it never happened," he added.

The victim's parents, Gary and Jennifer Grant, issued a statement following today's sentencing.

It said: "As the parents of Shamirah Grant, we have forgiven those present in the vehicle which veered dangerously out of control... unfortunately killing our daughter and injuring two of her friends.

"We appreciate that such a terrible event was not intentional... Nevertheless, Shamirah's death has left a heart-rending gap within our family's lives."

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