Prison for speeding driver who put student in hospital

Ella Haigh, 20, attended Bradford Crown Court yesterday with her father Peter to see Usman Mujahid sentenced over the crash which left her in hospital for a month.

Miss Haigh, who is about to go to university, was crossing Hall Ings in Bradford city centre 14 months ago when she was hit by the defendant’s Ford Fiesta which was travelling at about 40 to 50mph in a 30mph zone.

The court heard that Miss Haigh was heading to the railway station after a night out when she was struck by the car and thrown 25 metres along the road.

Judge Peter Benson heard that Mujahid, 21, of Maidstone Street, Bradford, remained at the scene after the collision, but he only pleaded guilty to the newly enacted charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving when his case was listed for a trial last month.

Miss Haigh’s injuries included a broken right elbow and a fractured right shoulder. She also suffered two broken bones in her spine and a fractured skull, which at one stage led to her being admitted to the intensive care unit on a neurological ward.

The court heard that Miss Haigh had been left with hearing problems and some long-term memory loss.

Mujahid, who worked as a salesman for a bakery firm, was said to have expressed genuine remorse over the incident, but Judge Benson noted that about three months later he was apparently convicted in his absence for driving another car without insurance.

Mujahid was also banned from the road for the next two years and will have to take an extended driving test before getting behind the wheel again.