Driver who reached speeds of 110mph in a 40 zone jailed

A speeding driver has been jailed over the death of a woman in a crash in which his Range Rover landed on a tube line in North West London.

Mother-of-one Yagmur Ozden died after being thrown from the vehicle when it left the A40 at Park Royal in August 2022.

24-year-old Rida Kazem was sentenced to seven and a half years after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury to another passenger.

He will serve at least two-thirds of the sentence and was also banned from driving for more than 12 years.

"You were showing off"

Judge Martin Edmunds KC said:

"The speed and violence of this unfolding crash is simply horrific, and the Range Rover was reduced to a mangled heap of metal,"

"I have no doubt you were showing off to your passengers - both showing off your powerful car but also what you thought of as your superior driving skills.

"What is all too clear is your skills were all too inadequate."

The court heard the car had previously reached speeds on 110mph in a 40 mph zone before crashing into several Tesla vehicles in a garage and then ending up on the rail line.

Yagmur Ozden, 33, died of her injuries after she and Rida Kazem, 24, were thrown from the vehicle as it ploughed through a Tesla dealership, ending up on a west London railway track.

Another passenger Zamarod Arif, who was 26 at the time, was the only one wearing a seatbelt and was left with serious injuries including a broken arm and leg.

The were gasps and sobs from members of Ms Ozden's family as CCTV footage, which captured the collision, was played at Isleworth Crown Court, west London, on Wednesday.

Kazem, whose left leg was amputated below the knee following the crash, had been driving the two women home from a night out in the early hours of August 22 2022.

He smiled to the public gallery after he was sentenced and left without using his crutches.

Prosecutor Nicholas Hearn said he has previous speeding convictions, including one offence for driving 95mph in a 50mph zone and was banned from driving for six months in November 2020.

Kazem sat staring straight ahead as the prosecutor read out victim impact statements, including one from the 13-year-old daughter of Baghdad-born Ms Ozden, of Finchley Road, north-west London.

Yagmur's 13 year old daughter described the death of her mum as like 'losing her best friend'.

"I'm still on shock," said Melek Ozden, who now lives with her grandmother.

"Sometimes I feel alone even though I have someone else with me.

"It will never be the same. I miss my mum and it's very sad I can't change what happened.

"I miss her and that I can no longer hang out with her.

"She was my best friend and I will miss the simple things like cooking pasta with her."

She continued: "Every time I see a Range Rover I remember the accident so I can't get away from it.

"I know my mum always wanted one and she ended up passing away in one.

"I have a constant daydream of my mum passing away. It happens every day and sometimes more than once a day.

"I blame the driver for taking my mum away. I believe he's acting like it never happened."

Ms Ozden's sister-in-law Kirsty Kelly described her as the "rock of our family", adding: "Yagmur had so many plans but sadly her plans got cut short.

"As a family we feel sick. It is unbelievably heart-breaking what we have been going through," she said.

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