Learner driver caught running from devastating crash scene that left mum dead
The grim moment an uninsured driver ran away from a head-on car smash that killed a woman was caught in footage. Khizer Ali crashed his mum's VW Golf into a Vauxhall Meriva carrying Valerie and David Ayres.
The couple had their lives torn apart when Valerie, 65, was instantly killed. David, 70, suffered life-changing injuries and the loss of his partner. He was airlifted to hospital on the day of the crash due to the severity of his injuries.
But as the couple lay stricken, Ali walked away from the scene. He was caught in footage looking shaken by the side of the road in a grey sweatshirt and jogging bottoms. Police tracked Ali to his home and arrested him on the day of the crash.
The incident on April 24 saw Ali behind the wheel of an 'out-of-control' car, according to West Mercia Police. They said the Ayres had 'no chance' of avoiding Ali 'when he hit them head on on the wrong side of the A441 Alvechurch Highway at 59mph on the 40mph speed limit road at around 2.30pm'. Such was the force of the shunt, the Ayres' Vauxhall was pushed into the car behind it.
Ali only held a provisional license at the time. He had been driving his sister's car, but they swapped to get 'into their mother's Golf'. He was not insured on the VW.
His sister, 20-year-old Sanaa Shahzad, let Ali drive the car while she attended an eyelash appointment. They had swapped cars just moments earlier.
Dashcam footage clocked Ali doing 62mph in a 30mph zone, causing him to have a near miss with one car. Then, he went around the A441 Sainsbury's roundabout twice, ignored the lanes and made his exit at full throttle. It was then he lost control of the car and drove straight into the Ayres.
Ali, whom cops said showed a 'total disregard' for safety, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, and a string of other offences. On Friday, a judge sentenced him to 11 years and three months.
The full list of charges Ali admitted to is as follows:
Causing death by dangerous driving
Causing serious injury by dangerous driving
Causing death by driving a vehicle without a licence or insurance
Aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving
Being the driver of a vehicle who failed to stop after a road accident
Being the driver of a vehicle involved in a road accident who failed to report that accident
Using a motor vehicle on a road / public place without third party insurance
Driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence
For his reckless behaviour, Ali was banned from driving for 12 years and 6 months. The ban includes 'the 7 years and 6 months of his prison term and a further 5 years after that'. He will require an extended driving test when the ban lapses.
For her part in the crash, Ali's sister Shazad admitted two counts of causing or permitting the use of a vehicle without valid insurance or a licence. She had also let another person drive the car before she lent it to her brother.
She has also been caught on the dashcam of the Golf driving dangerously around Redditch and admitted further charge of refusing the password or pin to her mobile phone. After she was bailed, Shazad is due to be sentenced on June 26.
Detective Constable Rose Hughes, lead investigator for this case, said: 'While no sentence can ever compensate for the sad loss of life in this case and the life sentence Ali's actions have imposed on the victim's family and friends, we hope that the term handed down to him today will go some way to seeing justice done.
'He showed a total disregard for the safety of the public when took the car off his sister that day, driving recklessly and dangerously which is exacerbated by the fact he should never have been behind the wheel of this car as he did not hold a full driving licence.
'We hope this sentence and the tragic outcome will teach a sobering lesson about the reason for speed limits and driving regulations to anyone thinking about ever getting behind the wheel without having passed their test or driving in such a thoughtless and selfish manner putting so many people at risk as he did.
'Ali should never be driving again. Offenders like him have no place on our roads. His sister Shahzad quite rightly bears some of the responsibility for the outcome of this tragedy too. She should never have leant him the car, especially as she knew he was a learner driver with no insurance.'
Valerie's daughter Lucy said her mum was her 'best friend' and was the only person she 'would talk to about everything'. David, recovering from his injuries, said his wife was the 'life and soul of the party'.
He added: 'My life has been turned upside down, I can't express how much I miss Val and wish the whole thing never happened.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
an hour ago
- ITV News
Tributes to mother killed after Jaguar crashed into Coventry home
Tributes have been paid to a mother who died after a Jaguar ploughed into her home in Coventry. Barbara Howard was found badly injured after the car smashed into her property on Lentons Lane at around 5pm on Thursday, 17 July. The 78-year-old was taken to University Hospital Coventry where she later died. Shortly before the crash happened, the Jaguar is believed to have collided with a VW van at the junction of Shilton Lane and Lentons Lane. Ms Howard's family said in a statement that she was "caring, sharing, glamorous, and stunning". They added that she was "someone who loved life", continuing: "Dancing mother of Debbie and Julie, our best friend was taken in the most horrific way. "We love her to the moon and back." West Midlands Police is appealing for anyone with information to come forward. A spokesman said: "We would especially like to hear from anyone with CCTV or dashcam video from around the area at the time, as we look to establish exactly what happened."
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Woman killed and man injured in crash near Inverness Airport
A woman has died and a man has been critically injured in a crash between a car and a van near Inverness Airport. A red Vauxhall Insignia car and a white Ford Transit Tipper van collided on the A96 Inverness to Nairn road a mile east of the airport roundabout at about 15:30 on passenger of the car, a 65-year-old woman, died at the scene. The 69-year-old driver of the car was taken to Raigmore Hospital, where his condition is described as critical. The driver of the van was road was closed while an investigation was carried out and reopened at about 23: Kate Finlayson appealed for witnesses or drivers with dash cam footage to contact police. She added: "Our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of the woman who has died, and we are carrying out inquiries to establish the full circumstances."
BBC News
16 hours ago
- BBC News
Worcestershire musician felt ignored by police after she was cyberflashed
A musician said she was ignored by her local police force and made to feel "a nuisance" after she was sent pornographic images and videos by a man she had met once at Downes, who waived her right to anonymity, said cyberflashing needed to be taken more seriously and she felt forced to investigate the crime reported it to West Mercia Police in September but it took nearly half a year for Ben Gunnery to be arrested, convicted and given a two-year community order.A spokesperson for the force said they have apologised to Ms Downes for the time it took to transfer her case to the Metropolitan Police. The professional violinist and teacher, from Worcestershire, met Gunnery, a fellow musician, once in 2024 when they played at the same concert."I [then] started to get a bunch of messages that had been deleted. Ten of them at once, sent late at night," she said."Then the next morning he'd message saying 'oops, sorry, smashed'." Then she received explicit and indecent photos and videos showing him naked."I was just stunned and felt horrified and violated," she said."I had quite a long period of time where I would struggle to get to sleep at night and every time I shut my eyes, I would be faced with these images 45, from Vauxhall, south west London, performed music for films, toured the world and, at the time of his offence, was teaching children and Downes immediately blocked him and reported what had happened to West Mercia sent the force the images and links to his social media, website and work address and also reported it to the Musicians' Union."I thought, from everything I'd read in the media, that it would be taken seriously and dealt with," she said. Ms Downes' statement was taken and she was told the case would most likely be passed to the Metropolitan Police as the man lived in several months there appeared to be no September to January, she got in touch with West Mercia Police more than 20 told her the Met would not accept the case as they were not able to find the man's home confused Ms Downes as West Mercia Police had told her they knew where he lived."It just made me more and more resentful and less hopeful that anything would come of it really," she said. In January, she contacted the then got in touch with both forces and, within two weeks, West Mercia Police had transferred the case to the a week, Gunnery was arrested, charged and appeared in a trial in May, he was found guilty of intentionally sending the images to cause alarm, distress and 45-year-old told the court he had struggled with a cocaine addiction for four years, he could not remember messaging her and he had meant to send the images to his court heard he had been previously convicted of a similar offence in 2023 when he had twice sent indecent and offensive images to a woman he had met through Tuesday, Gunnery was given a two-year community order including 150 hours of unpaid work and Judge Nermine Abdel Sayed told him he would be sent to prison if he judge said he should have known the impact his actions would have and that his victim now feels "like she has to constantly look over her shoulder". Cyberflashing, when offenders send unsolicited explicit images to people via an online platform, such as messaging applications and social media, became a crime in the UK in January 2023.A YouGov poll found four in 10 women, aged 18 to 34, had received an unsolicited sexual photo from someone who was not a romantic Downes said she chose to speak out to encourage others."It would be much easier for me to just become a statistic," she said."I've done nothing wrong. I was just doing my job. Ben Gunnery chose to send me pornographic images. I did nothing to encourage that behaviour."Most men are not like this and this behaviour needs to be called out. It's not something that I want my sons to think is normal."It's very easy to feel some element of shame and keep it to yourself. But right from the word go, I was determined I wasn't going to do that."Ms Downes said she was inspired to keep pushing the police to investigate her complaints by the experience of BBC correspondent Lucy received sexually explicit phone calls from a stranger but her case was dropped by the police and only reopened after a Victims' Right to Review was carried hearing Lucy interviewed on BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine show, Ms Downes said she became more determined to get justice. Ms Downes said her experience seemed at odds with the inquiry into Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens, a police officer who abducted, raped and murdered her while off government accepted the inquiry's recommendations that there should be a fundamental review of how indecent exposure was Ms Downes said she felt her case was not a priority for West Mercia Police."I feel that they're fobbing me off really. I've reported this crime. It is the police's job to investigate it," she said."As the victim, I want to know that my crime is dealt with quickly and with results."I felt gaslit by West Mercia Police. I felt ignored and they made me feel like I was a nuisance."A spokesperson for the force said they understood her frustrations over the delay in their investigation, had apologised and given her a "full explanation".An internal review concluded West Mercia's service was "acceptable" and officers complied with policy while the crime was being transferred to another Met's spokesperson told us they regret "any distress caused by this delay" and admitted there were delays in confirming the man's address.A Wandsworth Council spokesperson said Gunnery was suspended from his teaching role and would not be employed by the college again. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
