Man who drove with lady trapped beneath his van walks free

A man who drove for almost 100 feet with a 12-year-old girl trapped underneath his van has walked free from court. 

Haider Ali, 27, was at a Tim Hortons drive-thru restaurant buying coffee and donuts when he failed to see the youngster cross in front of his Vauxhall Combo van. 

Instead he ran over the victim, claiming he thought he’d hit a traffic cone, then continued to drive slowly on to pay for his food.

Ali didn’t stop until the girl came out from the back of the vehicle, lay motionless on the floor, and a member of the public alerted him to what had happened. 

The unnamed girl was left with a broken collarbone and elbow and also friction burns.

Haider Ali, 27, (left) drove for almost 100 feet with a 12-year-old girl trapped underneath his van. He has now walked free from court 

Ali said he thought he’d hit a traffic cone, then continued to drive slowly on to pay for his food 

The unnamed girl was left with a broken collarbone and elbow and also friction burns after being hit at the Oldham Tim Hortons

When Ali, from Rochdale, was subsequently interviewed by police he said he did not realise his van had hit the girl and said he thought he had run over the traffic cone. 

Police at the time of the crash in Oldham, Greater Manchester said she suffered ‘life changing’ injuries. 

The girl’s family declined to support a prosecution, meaning he could not be charged with causing serious injury by careless driving.

At Tameside Magistrates Court, Ali admitted the lesser charge of driving without due care and attention. 

He was also ordered to pay £205 in costs and victim surcharge and had six points endorsed on his driving licence. 

The court heard he already had three points on his licence from two years ago for speeding.

Emilee Creasley, prosecuting, showed the court a brief clip of CCTV footage taken from Tim Hortons restaurant in the Hollinwood area of Oldham at 3.05pm on Friday January 26 which showed Ali’s white van appearing to drive slowly towards the drive-through area.

The van then seemed to bounce as if going over a bump as the girl, who was wearing black, came out from underneath the back of the vehicle. 

He then stopped and the girl lay motionless on the road.

Miss Creasey said he drove for around 30meters with the girl under the car. 

Ali told police in interview he did not realise he had driven over a child. 

The prosecutor told the court: ‘He said he thought it was a cone.

 ‘A member of the public drew his attention to the child on the floor.

‘The injuries she had are an aggravating factor. She had suffered a fractured right collar bone, left elbow and friction burns.’

In mitigation Ali’s solicitor Seraj Khan said: ‘The defendant accepts that he had finished work. He was trying to get some food with a friend at Tim Hortons. He has attended and has correctly proceeded into the car park.

‘However, at the time he did hear, he did feel something. It is at that point he accepts that a competent driver should have stopped there and checked what it was. If he had stopped would have come to know it was a child there.

‘He thought it was a cone. He did not see the child cross the road when he hit the child. As a result he has carried on driving.

‘It was not until a member of the public informed him what was happening, when he has come to realise that there was a child stuck under the vehicle.

‘He was remorseful for his actions. He did apologise for his actions in the interview. He did stay there. He waited for the ambulance, and complied with police.

‘In terms of the defendant himself. As a result of what happened, he has been very worried about the child and wanted to know if she was OK or not. He has always shown genuine remorse as a result of this incident.

‘The defendant is someone in full time employment. As the time he was in his work van. He works as a full-time engineer for an intel company. He is an engineer who fits wifi, fibre and internet in homes and deals with any issues that anyone has with the internet.

‘He attends people’s homes to deal with that matter. Driving is a big part of his life. He has a work van. He needs to drive to each location as part of his employment.

‘He is given ten different addresses and needs to attend in terms of internet issues or instalment. ‘The defendant has been employed for 10 months in this work and is a homeowner, currently paying £720 per month in mortgage payments.

‘He is someone with no previous convictions. ‘I have spoken to the defendant and he states to me, it is something he could quite easily have avoided had he stopped and checked. He accepts that he should have stopped. He assumed it was a cone. He should have stopped and checked what it was, what the issue was. That is why he has pleaded guilty.’

Sentencing, JP Pauline Taylor said: ‘This is an unusual incident I must say. You have got three points already so you need to be extremely careful. It is a serious matter. If you get another matter on it, you might get disqualified.’