Driver who knocked down pregnant Keralite killing her baby boy jailed for 13 years

PRESTON Aug 16: A driver who knocked down a pregnant student, killing her baby boy, has been jailed for 13 years. Keralite Renju Joseph, 31, was struck by a speeding car driven by 20-year-old Ashir Shahid at a zebra crossing in the village of Bamber Bridge, near Preston, Lancashire.

The Toyota Prius driven by Shahid was thought to be going at speeds between 58mph and 71mph in a 30mph zone, in dark and wet conditions, Preston Crown Court heard.

Mrs Renju Joseph, who was five months pregnant at the time, was taken to hospital from the scene in Station Road in the early evening of 29 September 2024. Doctors carried out an emergency C-section to try to save the life of her son, Olive.

The woman was walking slightly behind two female colleagues on the crossing around 7.50pm as they made their way to a night shift at a nearby care home. A motorist driving in the opposite direction reported that the Prius appeared to accelerate about 15 metres before reaching the crossing, then swerved to avoid the two pedestrians ahead.

The pregnant woman was hit and “thrown into the air for quite some distance” before she tumbled and rolled into his car, according to the witness. Prosecutors said Shahid’s driving before the collision also “left a lot to be desired”.

Footage recovered from the mobile phones of Shahid and his 17-year-old younger brother, Sam Shahid, who was in the front passenger seat, showed the pair laughing and singing along to music while the car was being driven recklessly and at high speed.

Sam Shahid was also seen sticking his feet and upper body out of the window while the driver occasionally took both hands off the wheel and made gun gestures.

Minutes after the collision, the Toyota was abandoned in a side street and covered with a sheet by the defendants. Others then moved the vehicle onto the back of a flatbed truck and dumped it in Farnworth, Greater Manchester.

Ashir Shahid was arrested days later and made no comment when interviewed, but when his phone was examined, it revealed that on the night of the collision, he made an online search for “charge for hit and run human”.

Ashir Shahid, of Walton le Dale, Preston, pleaded guilty in June to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. On Friday, he was also banned from driving for 15 years and one month, and must pass an extended retest.

Sam Shahid, also of Walton le Dale, Preston, was detained for three years after he pleaded guilty to assisting an offender.

The collision happened on Station Road close to the junction with Longbrook Avenue and Fourfields in Bamber Bridge shortly before 8pm on Sunday, September 29 last year.

In a victim personal statement Mrs Joseph said: “Everything has changed for me now. Everything has been ruined by that one night and the callous and reckless actions of those two people in that car. My life will never by the same again. I will never get to meet my baby, be a mummy to him or watch him grow up. They have taken my first child away from me and I will never get him back.

“I don’t know how I will ever move on from the events of that night. I will always be reminded of what happened by the fact that my child is not here anymore and he should be. I have physical scars, but the emotional scars are the worst. There is not a day I do not think about my baby boy.”

Det Chief Insp Andy Fallows, of our Force Major Investigation Team, said: “My thoughts first and foremost today are with Renju and family. They have been through the most appalling ordeal and my heart goes out to them. They have shown the most incredible dignity and courage since this tragic collision and throughout these proceedings.

“In contrast Ashir Shahid and his co-defendant have shown nothing but arrogance and a lack of remorse for what they have done. Not only did they fail to stop after the collision, but they did all they could to try and escape detection.

“The manner of Shahid’s driving on that tragic evening was truly appalling with a complete disregard for pedestrians and other road users and his dangerous actions have very sadly cost the life of a little boy and left his mother with some serious and life changing physical injuries and the unimaginable pain of losing a child.

“I hope that today’s sentences will give these two defendants some time to reflect on the devastating impact of what they have done and will give others who may be tempted to drive in this way pause for thought and to think twice before they get behind the wheel.

“I would like to thank the officers and staff who worked tirelessly on this investigation to secure these convictions and sentences, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service and colleagues from Greater Manchester Police who helped locate the offending car.

“Finally, I would like to return to Renju and family and to once again extend my sympathies to them and to offer them my best wishes for the future.”