A van driver who caused the death of a three-year-old girl after snorting at least ’20 lines of cocaine’ has been jailed for 12 years.
Rawal Rehman, 36, had been on an all-night drugs binge in two massage parlours before he took to the wheel of his Mercedes van in Manchester city centre.
Victim Louisa ‘Lulu’ Palmisano was walking with her parents down the pavement when she was hit his vehicle on Mosley Street on February 22 this year.
The 36-year-old’s van first collided with a Metrolink tram before it rebounded and careered into the three-year-old.
Rehman,who was previously jailed for helping a friend in the wake of another fatal crash, ran away from the scene as Lulu’s mother screamed : ‘Look what you’ve done.’
Rehman, a self employed courier driver, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at a hearing last month.
Judge Alan Conrad KC sentenced Rehman to 12 years in jail and banned him from driving for 13 years.
A court previously heard that he had snorted 20 lines of cocaine in the seven hours leading up to the tragedy.
Rachel Shenton, prosecuting, told the court that prior to the crash Rehman had visited two massage parlours.
He took ’20 lines of cocaine in seven hours’ at the first massage parlour before leaving at 6am and going to a second venue, Ms Shenton said.
Rawal Rehman, 36, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Louisa ‘Lulu’ Palmisano (pictured) by dangerous driving in Manchester city centre on February 22
Rawal Rehman, pictured, has been jailed for 12 years for causing death by dangerous driving
A van driver who caused the death of a three-year-old girl after snorting at least ’20 lines of cocaine’ has been jailed for 12 years (picture from the scene)
The crash, on Mosley Street, happened around four hours later at 10am when Rehman failed to obey a stop sign and drove into the path of the oncoming tram.
Ms Shenton agreed when Judge Alan Conrad KC told the court that the prosecution will infer Rehman’s cocaine consumption meant his ‘driving was adversely affected’.
Passersby rushed to assist including a junior doctor and Lulu, from Burnley, Lancashire, was rushed to Manchester Royal Infirmary but her injuries – including a major head trauma – were too severe.
In a statement, her parents described her as the ‘sweetest, kindest, and most generous little girl’ who was ‘full of creativity and joy’ and ‘loved going to nursery’.
They added: ‘Her absence has left a devastating void in our family—she was our only child, our whole world.
‘We were simply enjoying a happy family day out in Manchester when this unimaginable tragedy struck. In an instant, our lives were shattered beyond repair.
‘The pain of losing her is unbearable, and we miss her more than words can ever express.’
Rehman was previously jailed for helping a Porsche driver who killed a pedestrian in a horrific hit-and-run collision.
Rawal Rehman, 36, pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving last month following the death of Louisa ‘Lulu’ Palmisano in Manchester city centre in February
Roads were currently closed around St Peter’s Square following the collision
Craig Rodger, 25, died after he was knocked down in Chorlton, Manchester, in March, 2014.
He was hit by a speeding Porsche Panamera being driven by Mohammed Basit Chaudry, 26, who had borrowed the car to impress a woman on a date.
As Mr Rodger lay dying in the road, Chaudhry arranged for Rehman to torch the dumped Porsche, thus destroying vital forensic evidence, while another man Mohammed Omayr, 33, who owned the car, drove him home so he had an alibi.
Rehman was jailed for 45 months at Manchester Crown Court in January 2017 after he admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
But his jail term was cut to three years after both he and Omayr took their cases to the Court of Appeal, claiming their original sentences were too severe.
This is a breaking news story – more to follow
